College and Career Readiness day is an important day for juniors and seniors because they take tests that can help them prepare for their futures. Although freshmen don’t get to take the test, they had the opportunity to do something equally important on CCR day, the Reality, Enrichment, and Life Lessons, or REALL simulation.

The administration partnered with West Central to bring this activity in during CCR day. Kristel Barr, Director of Student Services and Secondary Education, felt choosing this activity for the freshmen would be beneficial.

“We felt like it would be a good, interactive learning experience and it would give perspective to our students about the difference between a proactive and reactive life based on decisions they make as a teenager,” said Barr.

Students get to live two separate lives within the simulation, one where they make a stable income, and another where they make poor decisions and don’t have very much money. Freshman Jordan Labosky discusses how the simulation was ran.

“First we had a bad life to see how it would go. Then we did another round, and if we did everything right and we graduated high school and went to college and it gave us a better life because we had a job and we didn’t in the other one,” said Labosky.

During this simulation, the freshmen got to learn some tough life lessons. Freshman Hunter Yates felt that the simulation presented difficult decisions.

“When you’re broke it’s hard to decide if you want to pay rent or get food. You don’t have enough money, and because life is about money this makes people work harder and gives them different life experiences depending on their income,” said Yates.

Along with teaching them life lessons, it also shows them what their adult life will look like based on the choices they make. Freshman Bryson Burkhart talks about what he learned about making good choices.

“I saw that it would be a lot easier in life if you graduated high school and made good choices. Since you got to have two completely opposite lives, you can see how hard life is if you’ve done bad things and how easy it was when you did good things,” said Burkhart.

Teachers thought that the simulation would have an impact, and set the freshmen on the path to success. Barr hoped that the freshmen learned important life lessons from the simulation.

“Having a successful freshman year is crucial in obtaining a diploma. If you fall behind your freshman year it is harder to graduate on time and kids are then more at risk of dropping out. We wanted kids to experience what that decision can do to your adult life,” said Barr.

Although talking about making good choices is good, this simulation was meant to give them perspective and experience. Media teacher Brett Barbarick, who filmed the students during the experience, says that participating in the simulation was better than simply talking about life issues.

“It’s good for them to be prepared for what life is really going to be like and the obstacles and challenges that face adults every day. The decisions they’re making now can really influence what they do later,” said Barbarick.

Even though the REALL simulation was only one option for freshmen on CCR day and had a portion of students, its impact was more widespread than the time spent doing it. It helped the freshmen to set themselves on a better course, and encouraged them to continue making good decisions along the way.