About 120 students will graduate in a few weeks from Morgan County High School. Many of them will decide to go to college, but many also will enter the workforce. Regardless of their plans, reality can sometimes sneak up on them.

A recent program offered by the Morgan County Cooperative Extension Service taught graduating seniors about “real world” life skills. They learned how much basic survival will cost them. Volunteer leaders taught seminars about buying cars, interviewing for jobs, obtaining insurance, and being a smart consumer.

“There will be some very important opportunities for them coming up and they need to have the knowledge to be able to address real world issues like how to address credit card offers, or how do you purchase your first car or understanding the basics of insurance,” said Sarah Fannin-Holliday, Morgan Co. Extension agent for 4-H and youth development. “It’s very similar to the reality store program, but we take it a step farther and get more in-depth with the seniors. “

Senior Brent Howard attended the program and said it helped him to start thinking about what life might be like when he begins college at Morehead State this fall.

“ This program is to prepare you for lifetime experiences and what you’ll be dealing with if you go through college,” he said. “I’ll be away from mom and dad, so I have to get better prepared. I really learned a lot about insurance, things I didn’t know before.”

MCHS Principal Addison Whitt has been involved in the program since it began. He thinks it can really make a difference and teach students life skills they might not learn in a traditional classroom setting.

“A lot of these things are important and they may not have gotten them through school,” he said. “When they do graduate they’ll be facing a lot of major decisions. Through this program we hope to ease their transition from high school to college or into adult life.”

He said the program is mainly about financial planning. It gives seniors a chance to realize the actual cost of living outside of their parents’ house. It’s similar to a program called Reality Store for younger students but the senior program goes into much more detail. Like the Reality Store, the senior program has volunteers from local business and educational institutions.