Throughout schooling years, students are tested on variety of subjects, some seeming unfavorable or unrelated to future career paths and studies.

The education system within all schools teaches students cognitive skills, preparing them with skills of memorization and understanding of conceptual levels of learning. But the information being taught this way is forgotten as soon as it has been tested on.

“Our education system has taught us that we should be good at taking tests and nothing more,” Kaitlyn Kaminski wrote for Huffington Post. “If you ask me how to write a check or how I’m going to pay for college I couldn’t even tell you where I would start …

College could care less if I know how to take tests, they want to see the whole package. How are students supposed to express themselves in the classroom if they are stressed over a test that could define where they go to school? Students are in a cycle of memorizing and regurgitating facts that will help them get an A in the class, but how are they supposed to get an A in the real world if they can’t apply what school is teaching them to their real life?

Don’t get me wrong, arithmetic and multiplication tables are very useful to the real world, but accelerated math concepts such as the quadratic formula and being able to graph sin and cosine are not required knowledge for success. Math classes could instead be directed towards basic everyday math skills such as: taxes, managing money, financial planning, student loans, stock market, etc.

Failure to grasp conceptual topics taught in school is seen as a definition of who you are as a student and a determining factor for getting into college. These incredibly high standards and pressures against students increase anxiety among students nationwide.

Along with more valuable information being taught in schools, there could also be an incorporation of home economic classes to prepare students for not only future careers but self-help skills for them and their families. Although it may be common sense to some people, other students might have struggle with simple tasks such as managing personal finance, nutrition, and the other fundamental skills we need in order to be successful.

Being exposed to the basics in home economics classes could increase intelligence among students and also provide some sort of interest of what kind of career students want to pursue. With home economic classes there could also be communication and writing classes: how to write letters, resumes, emails, interview preparation. In society today, students are more comfortable talking behind a screen and these classes would help prepare them for potential interviews and job applications.

The education system currently revolves around preparing for standardized testing, which leaves a lot of room for improvement and new ideas to better educate and prepare students nationwide.