Salutary School Subjects by: Madison Whitbeck

Recently, I did some research, used my own opinions, and talked to some relatives about what classes the deemed useful in their everyday life. Most agreed that English was a key factor on their success. The most useful skill, I concluded from answers and research, was writing. Being able to write a good memoir, business letter, professional email, and so on is a very useful skill to have in every job. I also focused on some things that former students wished they learned in school. A lot of the answers included public speaking, interview skills, paying taxes and bills, managing money, and applying for a job. Many of my relatives said they wished classes were created a class to teach them basic life skills and how to get by.

My older cousin is currently majoring in at JMU in hopes of becoming a national security or counter terrorism intelligence analyst. He concluded that his knowledge in history and civics would obviously aid him in his success, but that is one out of millions of jobs out there. My other cousin, who is currently a student at Mary Washington, majoring in psychology and early education, told me that English and literature was her most useful class because she wants to be an early education teacher, but also in the sense that it taught her many useful writing skills to use in the examples I have listed above.

In conclusion, we should all show English teachers more respect. They are teaching a very useful skill that many of us students don’t realize we will need later in life. But maybe schools should be teaching more life skills than teaching subjects that will only apply to students who choose a job or major that uses that subject. Save that for college.