Iola High School students visited booth after booth at RealityU on Friday.
It’s a financial literacy simulation that asks students to imagine what life will be like at age 26. They’re given a summary of their life and a budget. They have to figure out how to pay for things such as housing, utilities, food, a phone, transportation, child care, retirement and more.
Some students were paired together as a married couple. Some had children.
Junior Kaylah Lampe’s eyes widened as she considered how much she and her “husband,” fellow student Cortland Carson, would need to pay for health care.
Then, a volunteer asked if they had pets. Yes, a cat and dog. They’ll need to plan for vet costs, too.
“What kind of dog do you have?” the volunteer asked.
Carson consulted a sheet of paper that listed the couple’s assets. “A Great Dane.”
“Oh, of course. The most expensive one,” Lampe said with clear frustration.
“It’s too much money. We’ve only been to three booths and already lost $2,000” out of their $7,859 combined monthly budget, she lamented.
Under the simulation, Lampe was a registered nurse and Carson was a teacher. They had two children, ages 1 and 2. At one point, a volunteer placed a crying baby in Lampe’s arms, adding to her frustration as she tried to do math while distracted by the wailing infant.
At the housing booth, the mock husband and wife team of Konner Larney and Brooklyn Ellis learned how much it would cost to rent a house.
“What if we go get another job and come back?” Larney asked. “Let’s do that.”
Nicole Becerra was next in line for housing. The smallest house she could rent would cost $1,100 out of her budget of $6,912. In her virtual scenario, she was a married nurse with one child.
At another booth, she chose a private daycare for her child at a cost of $730, plus $50 for a babysitter so she could have a “date night” with her virtual husband.
“I’m surprised by the prices,” she said.
