As I slung my bag off of my shoulder, and took a seat in class at the start of the school year, I listened to the teacher give us a summary of my new class: Financial Literacy. I let my mind wander as he spoke, promising myself I’d head to guidance to change my schedule as soon as this class was over. Financial Literacy wasn’t my first choice as an elective, and I was eager to see if there was space for me in another AP course. My eyes were focused downward while I twiddled my thumbs and listened as financial literacy teacher Jamal Bermudez continued to tell us what the course would entail. However, when he began to ask the class why each of us decided to take the course in the first place, my eyes darted up.
Immediately, the question reminded me of my early morning car rides to school with my dad. Our routine was consistent: listening to videos about digital currency. I had picked up a few terms by now, such as Bitcoin and XRP, and I began to understand concepts such as what it meant for a digital coin to go up or down in value. So, as soon as Mr. Bermudez raised the question, my hand shot up. I shared with the class that while I could make sense of what was going on in the videos my dad and I would listen to each morning, I wanted to learn more for myself and what it meant to invest. Mr. Bermudez validated my interest in learning about digital currency, and assured me that it would be a part of our year’s curriculum.
In the end, the opportunity to switch out of financial literacy was offered to me by my guidance counselor in exchange for being enrolled in another AP course. However, I decided to stay enrolled in financial literacy, and I couldn’t be happier with the decision.
One topic discussed in class was that there are many government officials, organizations, and schools working hard to get legislation passed so that financial literacy can be taught across the country. Many bills have been introduced, specifically in New York, that would require financial literacy to be taught statewide. One bill that was introduced in 2025 is Senate Bill S95, which would ensure topics such as financial planning, budgeting, borrowing, interest rates, and personal insurance policies would be taught to all students grades 9-12…