Danyelle Green was given the occupation “business administrator” and a gross annual salary of $50,000 at the Coastal Community and Teachers Credit Union 4 Reality fair for high school students.
Green, a senior at Collegiate High School, plans to have a business of her own one day and was given the opportunity to live her future, at least the average expenses.
“I’m halfway through the fair and I’m pretty much almost out of money. I hope this is not realistic, Green said jokingly while walking through the stations.
Seniors at Collegiate walked around to different booths that were presented by credit union workers selling essential priorities and wanted enjoyment such as housing, transportation, food, utilities, insurance, electronics, entertainment and more.
Rose Espejel, data entry clerk at Collegiate, believes students should start learning how to manage their money ahead of time.
“When students go to college they’ll know how to manage their money,” Espejel said. “It’s very important to start now and saving, managing money, so when they get older they can retire and have their money saved.”
Students had to purchase their living expenses under their net monthly salary (after taxes). For Green, her salary per month was $2,806.25, leaving her to decide between the different options provided by each station.
Getting hit by the truth, students had to spin a wheel of reality that could either harm or benefit their budgets. For some, root canals, car crashes, etc., were selected and they had to deduct $250. The lucky ones were given a bonus at their work.
“The reality fair helped me realize you can’t get everything you want,” Green said. “You have to learn to save money and hopefully then you have good savings or get a possible promotion at work for higher pay.”
