Dear Next President,

I would like for you to take into consideration the problem that affects many fellow young Americans, which is the lack of real-world skills. I don’t refer to social skills, rather practical skills (hands-on skills). Skills that can be used to help students with low grades and not only them, but also all the students that are driven and inspired by technical careers. These skills don’t only benefit the individual, but also the economy and the unemployment rate of the country.

My freshman year of high school I attended a school in Mexico, where I was given the opportunity to take a technical class. That year I took an electrical course and by the end of the year I learned the basic skills of an electrician: wiring and setting up electric circuits, either in homes or in household appliances. The class was very intriguing and gave me hands-on skills of a respectable trade. It also opened a range of new opportunities for me, meeting more people and getting to know the different careers the electric trade brought.

After my freshman year, I’ve attended Woodburn High School, in Woodburn, Oregon. Here I was never given the opportunity to take a technical class like I did before due to the lack of funds; consequently, many good opportunities are closed for me in regard to jobs, internships and technical skills.

This is only my perspective, but I know that many other high school students have been denied the opportunity to take these classes, mainly because many high school curricula don’t necessarily include these classes; or sometimes the funds aren’t enough and experts in the specific trades are scarce. I acknowledge the many programs that promote quality education and college preparedness, but the major focus is to send students to college, leaving behind those that find importance to technical and vocational careers.

I am a firm believer in equal opportunity, so with that being said: I believe that not every student is the same and not every student plans on attending college. So, I hope that there can be alternative ways to ensure that high school students learn how to make a good living without necessarily having to attend college.

For these reasons, I believe there should be more funding and implementation of technical classes in high school, to give students an opportunity to think forward about their future, and also to be of great help to their community.

Sincerely, Cristopher M.