#69. Choose a subject that you have never had the opportunity to study
Students graduating from colleges today are not fully prepared to deal with the "real world." It is my belief that college students need to be taught more skills and information about personal finance management to enable them to meet the challenges that face everyone in daily life, which includes playing the credit game, planning their personal financial strategy, and consumer awareness.
Learning how to obtain and use credit is probably the most valuable knowledge a young person can have. Credit is a dangerous tool that can be of tremendous help if it is handled with caution. Having credit can enable people to obtain material necessities before they have the money to purchase them outright. But unfortunately, many, many young people get carried away with their handy plastic credit cards and awake one day to find they are in serious financial debt. Learning how to use credit properly can be a very difficult and painful lesson indeed.
Of equal importance is learning how to plan a personal budget. People have to know how to control money; otherwise, it can control them. Students should leave college knowing how to allocate their money for living expenses, insurance, savings, and so forth in order to avoid the "Oh, no! I'm flat broke and I don't get paid again for two weeks!" anxiety syndrome.
Along with learning about credit and personal financial planning, graduating college students should be trained as consumers. The consumer market today is flooded with a variety of products and services of varying quality and prices.
A young person entering the"real world" is suddenly faced with difficult decisions about which product to buy or whose services to engage. He/ She is usually unaware of such things as return policies, guarantees, or repair procedures, information of this sort is vital knowledge to everyday living.
For a newly graduated college student, the"real world" can be a scary place to be when he or she is faced with such issues as handling credit, planning a budget, or knowing what to look for, when to make a purchase and whom to purchase it from. Entering this"real world" could be made less painful if people were educated in dealing with these areas of daily life. What better place to accomplish this than college?
69. 选择一门你从来没有机会学习的科目
现在，从大学毕业的学生都没有为应对“现实的世界”做好准备。我认为，学校应该教给大学生更多技巧、提供给他们更多关于个人理财的信息来应对日常生活中每个人都将要面临的挑战，它包括：守信誉、个人理财和顾客意识。
学习怎样获得、使用信誉是年轻人将学到的最重要的知识。信誉是件危险的工具，但是如果小心使用则会帮很大的忙。有信誉的人可以在没有钱的时候购得所需的东西。但是不幸的是，太多太多的年轻人被手头的信用卡牵着鼻子走，当他们某天醒悟过来的时候，已经是债务缠身了。怎样正确使用信誉是个很难又很痛苦的课程。
同样重要的还有学习怎样理财。人们必须知道怎样控制自己的钱财，否则，将会被钱财控制。在毕业的时候，大学生应该知道怎样合理安排自己的生活费、保险费、储蓄等，避免以后出现“噢，不要！我简直破产了。还有两周才发薪，可是又没有钱了。”的窘迫局面。
在学习如何使用信誉和个人理财的同时，大学毕业生还应训练自己成为消费者。现在的消费者市场充斥着丰富的货品、服务，质量不一，价格不等。初入社会的年轻人会发现买什么牌子的东西、选谁的服务是件很困难的事情。他或她对退货、包修规定和修理程序等事情毫无意识。此类信息对每个人来说都很重要。
对于刚毕业的学生来说，现实世界可能是个可怕的地方，他或她需要处理信誉的问题、制定个人理财计划，买东西的时候需要知道该买哪一件，什么时候买，从哪里买。如果一个人受到过以上这些教育，他就能比较容易地进入这个现实的世界。除了大学，还有什么地方更适合教授这些知识呢？
- challenge ［ˈtʃæləndʒ］ n. 挑战
- budget ［ˈbʌdʒit］ n. 预算
- credit ［ˈkredit］ n. 信任；信用
- allocate ［ˈæləˌkeit］ v. 分派，分配
- strategy ［ˈstrætədʒi］ n. 战略；策略
- insurance ［inˈʃuərəns］ n. 保险；保险单
- awareness ［əˈwεənis］ n. 知晓；意识
- broke ［brəuk］ adj. 一文不名的
- caution ［ˈkɔ:ʃən］ n. 小心，谨慎
- syndrome ［ˈsindˌrəum］ n. 综合病症
- purchase ［ˈpə:tʃəs］ v. 买，购买
- be flooded with 溢满；覆满
- outright ［ˈautˈrait］ adv. 直率地，痛快地
- scary ［ˈskεəri］ adj. 吓人的，使人惊恐的
- debt ［det］ n. 债，债务