Real World Simulation
Last Tuesday, I drove up to our Starkville Branch to help some of the branch personnel train on some new technology. Then, I stayed to participate in the next day's project, the Real World Simulation.
This Real World Simulation, that took place at the Starkville High School, was aimed at teaching the students some real world knowledge about finances. That's right up our alley! The materials were provided by the MSU Extension Service, as well as a few of the volunteers that day. Much of the organization of the event came from our very own Gary Allen, branch manager of the Starkville Branch.
Different booths that the students had to visit were set up in the school's auditorium, manned by numerous volunteers. We had people there from Statewide, Regions, Trustmark, The United Way and MSU Extension Service. It was great to see that so many people and organizations wanted to contribute their time to this cause.
The students were handed a booklet, telling their marital status, number of dependents they had, if any, and their monthly salary. As they walked around to the different booths, they would subtract each new thing they bought from their balance, in hopes to have some left at the end of the "month." There were such booths as Taxes, Transportation, Communication (cell phones, home phone and internet), That's Life (where they had to draw a card out of a bowl - some would add to their balance, and some would be unexpected expenses), Housing, Clothing and more. If the students ran out of money during their monthly purchasing, they could visit the "financial planner" and get a 2nd job or they would instruct them some things that they needed to drop in order to afford necessities.
I heard many comments throughout the day like the following:
I'm not getting married.
I'm not going to have any kids...they're expensive.
I don't need that most expensive car. I will make do with this one.
Maybe I don't need internet at home.
The first couple of those were obviously just them being funny, but did show a realization on a base level. They realized that the more people in your household, the quicker expenses piled up. The realizations of needing to make do with a lesser-expensive car or that they can do without something were key. That is what we wanted them to realize. You don't just GET everything that you want! You work hard for your money, and it is okay to say that you need to do without some things.
Overall, it was a really good day, and based on the students' evaluations of the program, they agreed.