A survey was conducted in 2014 which proved that about 61 percent of students who graduate from public colleges in North Carolina have student loan debt, with the average debt of 25,000 dollars. Athens Drive High School joined State Employee’s Credit Union (SECU) and made a money stimulation. This simulation is made for seniors taking Civics and Economics.

In this simulation, students are 25 years old and have a job, monthly salary, savings account and also may have a family and college degree. Players have to learn to manage money and pay for a house and bills.

“Well, our students were able to make financial decisions about their household and were hopefully able to gain knowledge on how to spend their money. Also how these choices will affect their monthly income and budget,” said Glenn Bass, career development coordinator.

In this “Reality of Money” simulation there were different stations. Each were different bills that had to be paid like housing. In housing each student can choose from a various amount of places to live from their parents’ house to mansions. Students picked where they should live based on their monthly income. There was a station for cars ranging from a Kia to a Mustang, along with a station for groceries, entertainment, clothing, insurance etc.

“I feel like the simulation has taught me the difficulty of handling money with children and a family might be, it opened my eyes up to the real world. It showed me that without a degree or stable job, life will be difficult. There are more things to pay for as an adult than I always anticipated and the simulation helped me realize that,” Youssef Aitboulahri, senior.

The people with college degrees made much more money monthly compared to those who only completed high school. Also those with master’s degrees usually made more than those with bachelor’s degree.

“I think it’s [the simulation] is very realistic because we want students in Athens to leave high school understanding how to budget their money. How their jobs and how much money they make affects the financial choices they make as they become an adult and have a family in the real world,” said Bass.

SECU brought in volunteers to work on each station and help the students with their decisions. They talked about good and bad credit and how that can influence your purchases. They even had teachers holding cards, some of them containing speeding tickets that players have to pay off. Others being reward money for finding a lost dog. Athens Drive and SECU hopes to influence the careers that students choose to pursue, along with how they will spend their money when they are independent.

“This simulation was created by State Employees Credit Union (SECU) and just like many of the other high schools in Wake County we wanted to give the students a hands-on approach to manage money and know how money is spent and everything is related to that. This is the first year, and I look forward to continue doing this in every Civics class in future years,” said Bass.