“Am I ever going to need this in my life?” It’s a question we asked ourselves throughout school whilst we pondered over the Periodic Table in Science or drew pictures of apples in Art and Design, but are there any key lessons we learned in school that have stuck with us? We reckon so.
Cooking Pasta in Home Economics
It’s a cheap and cheerful staple meal in any student’s diet so we’re glad we learned how to cook pasta as tiny first years in Home Economics class. Okay, so we maybe don’t remember how to make the apple crumble or quite how the recipe for pancakes goes, but the pasta lesson has stuck.
Retaining Weird Historical Facts
Having spent hours learning about life in Germany during the First World War or the ins and outs of the Industrial Revolution in America, we have to admit some of these pieces of information have come in incredibly handy during the odd pub quiz. You’ll surprise yourself when you suddenly remember Hitler’s dog was called Blondie, or that the Treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th of June 1919.
The English Books Turned Hollywood Blockbusters
Although it does make you sound a bit old, shouting ‘I read this in high school!’ when a trailer for a new movie comes out in the cinema, it’s still weirdly exciting. Although you maybe did find reading The Great Gatsby, or On The Road a drag in English classes, you can’t help but be excited when they come to the big screen…especially when Leonardo DiCaprio is involved.
Reading Maps (The Old School Way)
It may well have been up there with some of the most boring classes of all time but learning how to read a map in Geography is certainly one of the most useful lessons we learned. Although most of us have smart phones, we will all, at some point, encounter that horrible moment when your iPhone refuses to find your location and you have to follow the map solo, without the help of 3G.
How To Write a Good Letter
We remember doing this the first time way back in primary school, but it’s something we’ve taken with us into adult life. Writing a letter is normally your first foot in the door of a new job so making them look good counts. Thank goodness this happened to be one of the classes we paid attention in!
Basic Arithmetic
We’re glad those early maths lessons stuck in our brains because being able to work out pecentages, multiplying and dividing amounts and being able to budget are skills that will stay with us for good! In fact, we’re doing sums in our heads so much we don’t even know we’re doing it anymore, even if we are trying to work out if we can still afford to eat for the rest of the month if we buy those amazing shoes.
Being Able To Ask For The Bill in French/German/Spanish
We still don’t understand why we had to learn how to ask where the library is, or tell a stranger what colour of eyes we have but there are a few foreign phrases that have come in handy. Regardless of how much we hated having to learn French verbs, we have to admit we did get a kick out of putting them into practice when we jetted off on holiday. Merci, professeur de français!
