Phillip Pollachioli

November 21st, 2015

Introduction
Every day the same issue becomes more and more apparent.
Especially participating in the university life, you see it everyday and
actually share the struggle, of financial failure straight out of high
school. The major issue is that the run of the mill high school in todays
day and age stresses next to none one of the most important lessons
in life. Such lessons include managing your time like an adult and
staying financially responsible. Because teenagers fail to learn this on
their own most of the time, you can easily witness a college student go
hungry, not afford books, or even fail to pay their rent and get evicted.
Though people of all ages can be victims of this problem, the problem
is most applicable to college students.

Discussion
A prime example can be hand-picked off your own campus. I
have seen this enough just this semester in my girlfriends roommates,
who have both failed to budget themselves correctly. The problem
stems out of everything from how to keep track of your funds to
knowing how to spend the money you can (i.e. learning how to grocery
shop). But a lack of education goes further than short-term effects
(failing to fit your monthly budget); high schools dont make it a core
value to help their students protect themselves long-term financially.

Phillip Pollachioli
November 21st, 2015
The American public education systems lack of priority goes
further than just financial failure amongst their offspring; students
nationwide come short of taking care of important assets in their life.
Such assets include the well-being of an automobile, handling rent,
applying for jobs/creating resumes, and protecting themselves from
scams. These kinds of assets and responsibilities should righteously be
more important than that same individuals knowledge of the process
that occurs in the mitochondria. Once we start to understand why the
lessons we wish to see arent taught as mainstream as they should be,
we can better help ourselves obtain the wisdom we so need.

The obstacles that keep us from receiving the wisdom we need

lie in the inability to regulate such courses and curriculums. Many
practical, everyday concepts cannot be taught in public schools due to
an existing social disagreement on those matters. With the friction of
the public, it is hard to establish a curriculum that everyone agrees on.
Too many people disagree, for example, on how to handle ones money
to establish a course in which someone could be certified to teach. It is
much easier to come to a concrete consensus on something that can
be either proven, or approved, throughout precedent and experiments.

Phillip Pollachioli
November 21st, 2015
In other words, its easier to certify a teacher to instruct a math class in
which the methods are proven correct and accepted by scholars.

With the experience in a course such as personal finance not

being well-implemented under a students belt, certain classic
mistakes are made by the general college kid population. One is
college kids tendencies to fall to credit card debt. Especially with the
frivolous spending habits notorious amongst this demographic, its
very easy to either lose track of spending, or have no choice but to
spend the money necessary to support their education. This goes hand
in hand with the overuse of student loans.

It is truly detrimental to a students financial well-being when

they are not familiar with the gravity of certain expenses. One of the
worst for the students wallet is staying school for too long, especially
when still on loans, due to the fact that the standard university raises
its rates for 5+ year students.

Put it this way; if youre less educated than expected in Biology,

then you may fail, and have to take the class again. However, if you
fail at being financial responsible, you may get foreclosed on, go
bankrupt, or go hungry at school. So, it takes a little to understand why

Phillip Pollachioli
November 21st, 2015
a student should be required to pass Biology before he graduates, but
can have absolutely zero experience in financial responsibility.

Solution
A solution for such an established issue must start slow and will
most definitely not yield immediate result. Because the education
system is such a large entity, better-advising should start with yourself
as an individual. Start with something completely practical and
feasible: Self finance classes. Most standard universities offer a decent
education in financial responsibility. Once you learn to take care of
number one, yourself, we must then start hitting it where it counts; at
public high school students. Especially in a size school where the
community regular communicates and co-insights information with one
another, its very easy to start an agreeable movement. Putting up
signs and talking to the students in public to take the classes that we
find necessary to develop as an adult is a feasible method to getting
the ball rolling. With more students actually paying attention to
valuable information for their future, they will soon after strive to have
their needs fulfilled. In this effort, group mentality and will of motivated
students is our best asset.

Results

Phillip Pollachioli
November 21st, 2015
The second half of the proposed solution has recently been
implemented in a certain demographic of old friends that still attend
Holly Springs High School in Holly Springs, North Carolina where I grew
up. Though there are still a majority of results still waiting to be shown,
the process of getting the ball rolling was fairly easy and definitely
successful. A body of students that I know to entail some of the most
motivated and outspoken students at the school gave me their
attention when discussing the importance of personal finance. Because
I once was part of the Holly Springs theatre company, it was very
rewarding to obtain their attention and support.

Evaluation and Conclusion

As far as the first half of my solutions goes, I will not see results
as I am unable to get into a personal finance class this upcoming
semester. Looking at what little I have given myself to evaluate, I feel I
got the process off to a good start. I feel though the impact on a
national scale will most likely be insignificant, there is still so much left
to do and so many voices left to be heard. All in all, with persistence
its possible to influence the youth to make a more proactive effort to
learn how to be financially responsible.
In order to actually build further, the influenced audience at Holly
Springs is very interested in starting a club revolving around learning

Phillip Pollachioli
November 21st, 2015
how to adult. However, I feel that this is already an issue apparent
enough to public high schoolers that there is enough will to take this
movement further.

Recommendations/Reasoning
Overall, it is much more feasible to get yourself as an individual
educated instead of trying to sway a group mentality of a whole high
school student body. Although with effort and care, the second option
is possible and worth it, it is a much more practical and sensible use of
your own time to take classes, such as the personal finance classes
offered at UNC Charlotte.

Phillip Pollachioli
November 21st, 2015
Cussen, Mark P. "5 Worst Money Mistakes You Can Make In
College." Yahoo Finance. Investopedia.com, 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 28
Oct. 2015.
This is an informational text from another source that was posted to
Yahoos finance website by Mark Cussen, who has been working
with finance for 20 years, including everything mortgages to
taxes.
The scope of this article circles around the mistakes that college kids
make with their money that can be traced back to the lack of
education in that field in their previous years of school.
This is one of the most useful angles for tackling my problem head-on.
One of the most important things about understanding your
problem is the various ways that your problem can occur. Since
this article is pointing out uneducated mistakes that college
students make, it is directly related to the faults in the education
system, as these are real world skills that should be able to be
fulfilled by someone in that point of their life. It is because of a
lack of education in finance that students are most often prone to
falling into debt. This is even so for those who dont have to pay
for their own education. Falling into holes with credit cards,
spending their savings, and not knowing how to budget
themselves for food are just a few ways that college students
have screwed themselves out of their own wallets.
This source is not only credible, but the most useful of its sort. This
kind of word is something that should be taken seriously from
someone whos spent their last 20 years working on personal
finance for others.
Engel, Pamela. "This May Be The Biggest Problem With America's
'Common Core' Education Standards." Business Insider. Business
Insider, Inc, 4 July 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
This is an article from the Business Insider, a seemingly well-developed
journal website. Pamela Engel is
a recurring writer on this website.
The focus of this article is around Common Core, the system
implemented that has raised a lot of
concerns in parents across
the country.
This articles title is surprisingly accurate, as it is well focused around
one of the most frustrating aspects of the education system. The
way classes are being taught, especially down to elementary
levels, are damaging the cognitive flexibility of the youth of
America. Curriculums hardly require a student to understand
whats going on, as long as they can answer a question and pass
a test. Passing or failing (which is the ultimate goal) is no longer
focused around a full understanding of the subject. One can

Phillip Pollachioli
November 21st, 2015
easily get an A in a class without ever being able to write an
essay in that said class. Because students arent urged to think
critically, apathy can easily lead to success. This is a prime
example of how the education system is not preparing our youth
for the real world. The largest upset behind this is that it is
counterintuitive. The Common Core actually values critical
thinking, but in the end pushes students to reach the bar instead
of exceeding it.
I find this source credible particularly because of the well-versed
website it comes from. The Business Insider backs up all of its
information with real-world examples.
Kadlec, Dan. "Why We Want-But Cant Have-Personal Finance in
Schools | TIME.com." Business Money Comments. Time
Magazine, 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
This article is from the Time Magazine website, a news outlet. The
author, Dan Kadlec, is a journalist for the team who has been
writing about personal finance for 25 years.
The focus of this source actually surrounds the positives of the
education system and where it actually CAN be helpful in
teaching the youth personal finance.
According to this article, one of the main reasons for a lack of this
course throughout public high schools is the lack of instructors
actually qualified to teach the course. On top of that, SATs and
ACTs dont even test for that field. Because the two most
important access points to University life dont call for the
education in personal finance, the education system doesnt
spend time on it. Its certainly a flawed ideology. On top of that,
methods arent agreeable by everyone. Many parts of the school
system have a different belief on personal finance than its
counterparts. This source is credible to an extent. Though it
didnt tackle my questions head on, it did, however, shed much
light on why we have a lack personal finance in our education
system. It seems that the writer was actually very well educated
in the field, even though there was a hint of bias against the
education system.
This source, to me, is credible because of the source of writer. Dan
Kadlec has been centered his career around personal finance for
25 years.
Smith, Nicole. "Problems and Weaknesses in the American Educational
System." Article Myriad. 15 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
This article is a second-hand source written by Nicole Smith, who is a
not-so-renown writer that I cannot distinctively research online.

Phillip Pollachioli
November 21st, 2015
The focus of this source is identifying holes in the educational system
in this country.
This selection isnt particularly invalid, but isnt the most beautifully
written article Ive read on the internet. It does however, provide
some information that you wouldnt consider first hand to be
important. Though I dont agree on some of the opinions she
manages to voice, the basic message being conveyed is
respectable. Public schools are teaching kids narrow paths of
thought, not allowing them open to their minds outside around
what theyre being told, such as their history as a country, and
the balance of religion taught. The plagiarism issue is highlighted
in solid detail. This may not seem relevant to my actual proposal,
but it actually is. Part of the reason that students have started
cheating more and more is to make school easier instead of
more enlightening. Its much easier to just cheat on a certain
course if the information is on a cell-phone, and what is being
taught isnt as relevant to a student of the age that they are.
This source may have been helpful, but I particularly find it credible.
Nicole Smith is not an apparent name after research, and there is
a considerable amount of bias in this selection. However, certain
basic messages in this selection are very helpful.
Prabhakar, Hitha. "6 Must-Follow Money Tips For College
Students." Money.usnews.com. 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
This is a selection on an informative site written by Hitha Prabhakar,
whose name is very much centered around articles involving
401ks, money management, and financial advising.
This selection focuses on important things that college students need
to understand to keep themselves from going broke on their own.
This source is very crucial for focusing on the solution more than the
problem. This article is an attempt to do the justice of actually
teaching high schoolers how to actually budget themselves.
These are actually helpful for getting an understanding of what
needs to be done, even though I feel there is much more to learn
in depth. For example, she says to create a budget, but I feel that
there is a whole course worthy of information how to actually set
up a budget. She also stresses the differences between wants
and needs, and the extents of it. Prabhakar advises setting up a
checking account. This, along with her suggestion to use, but
not abuse credit cards is something that I feel could either be
helpful or detrimental based on the kind of person this student is.
One of her strongest points is the damage to ones wallet when
shopping for textbooks. For some students, the cost of one
semester of books can take away their entire summer savings.

Phillip Pollachioli
November 21st, 2015
Prabhakar has a myriad of articles focused on money management and
financial aid. This is a source I could take word from.