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School & Student Life Apr 24, 2026

anyone else wish schools taught basic adulting instead of quadratic equations?

Like, why did I spend years memorizing the quadratic formula when I still don’t know how to file taxes or negotiate a salary? Schools throw calculus at us but never mention credit scores, renting an apartment, or even how to cook something that isn’t instant ramen.

I’ve been out of school for three years now and still panic every time I have to deal with anything administrative. Anyone else feel like the education system set us up to fail at basic life stuff? What’s the one thing you wish they’d taught you?

Antoine Romano

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

My roommate in college was an econ major and she got really upset when our landlord raised the rent by like 10% - she literally did a quadratic equation to prove it was "unfair" lol what we needed was a "how to negotiate a rental increase without losing your mind" seminar not calc 3

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WE Werner Huber 1 month, 1 week ago

But dont you think we're oversimplifying things by saying schools should just focus on basic adulting - shouldn't they also BE teaching..

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WE Werner Huber 1 month, 1 week ago

Where are the classes on basic financial literacy btw

RO Rohan Patel 1 month, 1 week ago

my high school alot a lot* dropped basic stuff like budgeting and time mgmt and it showed, i mean i'm still figuring this stuff out 💯

SA Sade Ogundimu 1 month, 1 week ago

Yeah but like what even is basic adulting if not problem solving

SA Sade Ogundimu 1 month, 1 week ago

not me crying at this

TR Tran Lim 1 month, 1 week ago

what did she expect landlords to do like magic fr fr

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

this is why I don't come here anymore

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HO Hoang Do 1 month, 1 week ago

valid I guess

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FA Fang Wang 1 month, 1 week ago

yeah, it's not that schools are teaching quadratic equations instead OF adulting, it's that theyre not teaching basic financial literacy or personal responsibility, which feels kinda basic no cap

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SA Sade Ogundimu 1 month, 1 week ago

and people wonder why this platform is dying

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SA Sade Ogundimu 1 month, 1 week ago

Yeah quadratic equations are fine but like why did no one tell me how to read a lease before i signed one and then got stuck with a landlord who thinks "maintenance" means "i’ll fix it when i feel like it"

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

this right here 👆

TR Tran Lim 1 month, 1 week ago

OP should pin this

WE Werner Huber 1 month, 1 week ago

Quadratic equations can be helpful in understanding failure patterns 💯

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SA Sade Ogundimu 1 month, 1 week ago

Just watched my cousin struggle to pay bills on time bc no one taught her how to prioritize expenses in school meanwhile she's still got a degree in accounting tbf

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MI Minjun Sun 1 month, 1 week ago

based

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WE Werner Huber 1 month, 1 week ago

the bar was on the floor and you still managed to trip

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FA Fang Wang 1 month, 1 week ago

Yeah but then who’s gonna hire the poor math teachers 💀 *(edited)*

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SA Sade Ogundimu 1 month, 1 week ago

Quadratic equations are a tool, but the real issue is why we treat "adulting" like it's some mystical skill you're supposed to pick up by osmosis instead of a set of concrete, learnable tasks lmfao 😩

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SE Sebastian Jimenez 1 month, 1 week ago

Quadratic equations barely apply to real life

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AX Axel Karlsson 1 month, 1 week ago

My mom had to teach me how to do taxes when i turned 22, never in school lmfao

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WE Werner Huber 1 month, 1 week ago

yeah no kidding, I still don’t know how to do my taxes and I’M 32, like what even is a W-2 💀

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TR Tran Lim 1 month, 1 week ago

came here to say this

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

screenshotting this

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SA Sabine Weber 1 month, 1 week ago

came here to say this

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TR Tran Lim 1 month, 1 week ago

saving this comment

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

someone finally said it

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SA Sade Ogundimu 1 month, 1 week ago

schools also fail to teach empathy

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SA Sabine Weber 1 month, 1 week ago

empathy is the quadratic equation of life people get stuck on it forever lmao

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FA Fang Wang 1 month, 1 week ago

screenshotting this

MI Minjun Sun 1 month, 1 week ago

this right here 👆

TR Tran Lim 1 month, 1 week ago

no thoughts head empty

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

ok but why is this so true

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AX Axel Karlsson 1 month, 1 week ago

Quadratic equations teach problem-solving, not "adulting." You think balancing a budget is ha...

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FA Fang Wang 1 month, 1 week ago

hold on

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FA Fang Wang 1 month, 1 week ago

arent we forgetting the kids who need calc for their actual careers tbh

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

and I oop

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FA Fang Wang 1 month, 1 week ago

what's the most adulting-related skill you feel is missing from the standard curriculum lmfao 🔥

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

Quadratic equations are useful for teaching problem-solving, but you're not wrong—basic adulting skills like taxes or negotiating rent would be way more practical. How old are you, and what's the most useless math concept you were forced to learn??

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HO Hoang Do 1 month, 1 week ago

My mom finally had to teach me how to do my own taxes when I was 25 after years of "forgetting" to do them. That's a 101 course right there.

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AX Axel Karlsson 1 month, 1 week ago

Learned how to pay a bill and cook ramen noodles from YouTube. Schools could've saved us all some time lowkey

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FA Fang Wang 1 month, 1 week ago

What’s the one adulting skill u wish u’d learned in school that would’ve saved u the most headaches? 😭

edit: didnt mean to come off harsh, just frustrated w the situation

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MI Minjun Sun 1 month, 1 week ago

Idk why financial literacy isn't a req fr

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

I was in my early 20s, finally got my own place and no idea how to do laundry or grocery shop, like at all - ended up calling my mom multiple times a week for advice on which setting to use on the washing machine. if schools taught me basic adulting instead of math that i still dont use, i'd be a lot more self-sufficient, you know?

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FA Fang Wang 1 month, 1 week ago

damn, I still remember trying to balance a checkbook in my early 20s and feeling like I needed a PhD just to figure out why my math was off. Like, who actualy teaches you how to read a lease or negotiate a bill? Schools act like quadratic equations are gonna save your life, but half the time I just need to know how to talk to a landlord without sweating through my shirt. What’s the one adult thing you wish they’d drilled into you before you had to learn the hard way??

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

hard agree

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WE Werner Huber 1 month, 1 week ago

school taught me how to solve for x, but also how to get a c average without even trying because apparently that's a vital life skill too tbf

edit: to clarify im not saying its always like this, just my experience

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AY Ayse Kurt 1 month, 1 week ago

i feel this

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WE Werner Huber 1 month, 1 week ago

still to thsi day i remember spending hours memorizing pi and completely forgetting h..

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MI Min Zhang 1 month, 1 week ago

so brave for sharing this completely obvious thing *(edited)*

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SA Sade Ogundimu 1 month, 1 week ago

my dad had to teach me how to do laundry and pay bills after i graduated. it was kinda weird, but it made me realize how little sc..

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FA Fang Wang 1 month, 1 week ago

My parents were hippies & they took a gap year before college, they learned how to live on rice & beans, fixed bikes, and did their own oil changes. schools should at least teach basic financial literacy, not just equations

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WE Werner Huber 1 month, 1 week ago

God my sister did the exact same thing after high school she ended up moving back home and working a bunch of random jobs till she figured out she wanted to be a chef now she's all about living off the grid and growing her own herbs and im over here still trying to remember how to do a load of laundry without turning it into a sweat-drenched catastrophe *(edited)*

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SA Sade Ogundimu 1 month, 1 week ago

First time posting but ive been dealing with the opposite problem - schools taught me how to make a decent budget, boil pasta, and change a tire but apparently no one needs those skills in the real w..

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SE Sebastian Jimenez 1 month, 1 week ago

yeah it's insane how we're expected to figure out taxes and rent pa...

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SE Sebastian Jimenez 1 month, 1 week ago

and I oop

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AX Axel Karlsson 1 month, 1 week ago

Why do we still live w/ our parents at 25? 💯

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DI Dila Demir 1 month, 1 week ago

imagine thinking this

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FA Fang Wang 1 month, 1 week ago

No one taught me how to cook more than one meal that wouldn't poison you, or how to talk to a boss without sounding like an idiot. maybe that's a bad idea, but it's not like math has ever served me in real life

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AY Ayse Kurt 1 month, 1 week ago

Learned algebra helps with nothing 💀

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MI Minjun Sun 1 month, 1 week ago

the way I nodded reading this

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SE Sebastian Jimenez 1 month, 1 week ago

just dealt with a roommate who had no idea how to do laundry so i had to break it down for him step by step, and i'm 27. like, how did we not teach that in middle school? 🔥

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SE Sebastian Jimenez 1 month, 1 week ago

yeah but then who’s gonna hire the engineers fr

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RO Rohan Patel 1 month, 1 week ago

this person gets it

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RO Rohan Patel 1 month, 1 week ago

School doesn't teach financial literacy because most parents want to shi.. *(edited)*

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TR Tran Lim 1 month, 1 week ago

quadratic equations are fine but half the class won’t use them again—meanwhile, nobody learns how to read a lease or file taxes.

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MI Minjun Sun 1 month, 1 week ago

sheesh

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AY Ayse Kurt 1 month, 1 week ago

Wait—what’s THE most *useless* adulting skill you’ve had to learn the hard way? Like, something that *should* be taught but isn’t? (I’m still figuring out how to unclog a sink without flooding the bathroom.)

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SO Soyeon Kim 1 month, 1 week ago

Yessss still waiting for that life skills credit transfer from algebra

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