Life is a game of cause and effect, in which the seniors at Northview experienced for two periods on November 11, all the seniors were in the gym and auxiliary gym for the Finance 101 event. The students played a Game of Life with the goal to have a positive number in the bank account by the end.
The students, who just got out of college in the game, were given a job and a salary amount. Then, like the Game of Life started seeing what this form of life had in store for them by spinning a wheel. The students were given a possibility of a spouse and children, and by spinning the wheel would get an “issue” for the family. Whether the issue be good or bad, the students would have to figure out how they could pay for the new issue like breaking a bone or buying a new car, along with the necessities like groceries on one paycheck.
The students spun a wheel after receiving their jobs and salary and had a situation presented to them like, “You dropped your phone in the toilet and now have to pay $50 to replace it.” The seniors had to work around issues all while taking care of the other finances like housing, cable, or loans. Most students ended up in the positive hundreds while a few fell into the negative numbers.
“I liked Finance 101 because it taught me more about money tactics and smart shopping,” senior Mikayla Simpson said.
After the students played the game they were given a presentation by two graduates. They went over important topics such as housing, clothes, food, entertainment, cable, wifi, credit cards, phones, water, heat, electricity bills, and the possibility of kids. All the expenses of living when your parents aren’t paying for the bills and some other expenses that the student would have to pay for one their own.
Which? Credit Union provided this Game of Life to prepare the seniors for the real world. After the game, the students got to reflect on what they learned, and share their experience in an interview for the upcoming senior class who will be participating next year.
Zoey Napierala, Staffer Writer
