As it turns out, a² + b² = c² does not appear on tax forms. While I am sure Pythagoras has provided a great many services to humanity, he did not pass on many life skills that will help me

So how can this embarrassing lack of street smarts be filled in? Enter Liberty’s wise-cracking, common sense-savior, Mr. Benjamin.

With just a semester of Learn and Earn taken at any time during one’s high school career, Mr. Benjamin instills a lifetime of know-how, covering everything from how to crush a job interview (dress to impress) to how not to get swallowed up by credit card debt before you’re forty. Though this knowledge might sound even less interesting than Algebra II, I promise Mr. Benjamin’s dry humor one-liners can pull even the most disinterested student through the class with a smile.

This fall, as I apply to colleges across the country, I reflect on my Learn and Earn experience with a smile  because it gave me the confidence and knowledge needed to keep my head afloat once I leave the security of Liberty High School. Though I know a class can’t teach me everything I need to know about the “real world,”  I am thankful for Mr. Benjamin and Learn and Earn for giving me the head start I need to tackle adult life.