"One Thing" Could Make All of the Difference

What’s the “one thing” you wish you had learned in school but didn’t?

Author: Tyler Adams
Community Involvement
Published: Wednesday, 04 Sep 2024

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What's the "one thing" you wish you had learned in school?

Image caption: Students are more engaged in the classroom with experiential learning activities.

During a networking event recently, I was sitting around a table with six industry professionals whom I had not met previously. When it came time for me to introduce myself and share what I do, I did not want to give them my standard stump speech about JA. Instead, I asked this question: "What’s the 'one thing' you wish you had learned in school but didn’t?"

Before I share their answers, think about this question and try to answer it for yourself -- fire up the time machine and head back to the classroom. (You might still be in the classroom, so what do you wish you could learn more about now?) Notice anything from your experience that was missing? What do you know today that you wish you would have learned back then?

For those six individuals, they wish they had learned "about finances," and "how to start a business" and even "how to be a professional." Throughout that event, I repeated this question to others I met, and almost all of them answered the same way (barring they actually had JA in school -- true story): they wish they had learned about finances, how to start a business, and how to be a professional.

Image caption: A young middle school student ideates a mobile app during a JA workshop lesson.

Do you relate to these answers? I know I do. Even a small dose of learning about interest rates and investments would have been gargantuan for my overall confidence as I explored my post-high school options back then. I genuinely believe the only definition of "interest" I knew back then fit in a sentence like, "Am I interested in what's on the lunch menu today?"

After everyone answered my "one thing" question, I followed up by telling them their answers are the reasons Junior Achievement exists. We are shaping a future where those answers are eliminated altogether; a future where every young adult has the financial prowess to make sound money-related decisions, understands the mental grit it takes to be your own boss and start a business, and generally gains the perspectives and influences needed to choose a career path they love.

Not only does Junior Achievement believe a future like this is actually possible, but we also believe we have the right tools in place today to make it happen. Each year, we reach thousands of local students with critical programming and experiential learning events such as JA Inspire and JA Stock Market Challenge that focus on three vital pillars: financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work & career readiness.

Image caption: Introducing students to positive adult influences heightens the learning experience in the classroom.

Of course, none of what we do is complete without our "secret sauce" -- our volunteers. Our educators are superheroes who spend every minute of each school day pouring their hearts into their students. However, they are often limited to the structures and guidelines of their schools and curriculums, which may leave little room for the "one thing" others shared they wish they had learned while they were in school.

This is where JA jumps in and says, "We're here to help!" By partnering with our local educators and bringing area professionals into the classroom to teach financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work & career readiness lessons, our local students are able to gain valuable skillsets and mindsets and give our educators the boost they deserve.

Whether it is one 50-minute lesson in the classroom or an all-day offsite learning experience, it only takes one moment for a student's life to be changed forever. What if my new friends from that event had Junior Achievement while they were in school? Would they have answered me with the same response? I am brimming with bias, but I imagine their answers would have been drastically different.

As we dive into a new academic year, Junior Achievement will continue to rewrite the answer to this "one thing" question for thousands of students. From "one thing" they wish they had learned, our hope is they instead have "many things" they are thrilled they learned.