Two things I think everyone should know.

If I were to be a highschool/middleschool teacher, there are TWO things I want my students to remember for the rest of their lives. Just two. I'll probably be a science teacher, but I wouldn't care if they don't remember the structure of DNA, the parts of a cell, photosynthesis, or random science facts. I also won't care if they don't remember calculus, or dates in History. They're good to know, but most times you don't really use this kind of knowledge anyway.

So here are the TWO things I think everyone should know.

1) The Menstrual Cycle.
I'm not even kidding. I think this is so friggin' important. At this point, some ppl have stopped reading thinking, "what? Elisa's not being funny here, bo---ring" but I don't care. I have had too many friends ask me, "Elisa, you've taken a bunch of bio classes right? So tell me, My last period came on ___ date. I just had sex and he came inside. Will I get pregnant?" So each time, I have to tell them how it works and everything.
...I'm serious. I've even had this "The condom slipped off and I got so scared. I got my period right after, but I'm so scared i'll get pregnant."
This makes me so sad. Ok, call me a nerd or whatever, but it really disappoints me that high-school health classes are not doing a single thing. If there's one thing those classes should teach us, it needs to be about the menstrual cycle, timing of pregnancy, and when-what-how type stuff. Every time I have someone ask me that, I go "1) wear a stupid condom. and 2) know your menstrual cycle" Seriously, boys and girls BOTH need to know this. It's so important. That's what I think, anyway.

The second thing I think everyone should know is:
General Geography of the World.
I'm sure that everyone (atleast from Japan that I know) have had someone tell them "So you're Japanese? That's cool, so do you speak Chinese?" I'm not even kidding. I'm sure everyone has their own hilarious episode of ppl asking them/telling them the most ridiculous ignorant comment. Right after telling someone "I'm half Spanish, half Japanese" someone asked me, "so which one of your parents is Mexican?"
...gaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr
I'm not saying you should know the exact location of every single country or the history of every single country. I'm just saying you should know general things, like which country belongs to which continent, and the general area they're located, and distinguish one country from another country ("wait, so is Japan party of Korea? or China? I always forget")

So that's it. Two things I think everyone should know:
1) menstrual cycle
and
2) general geography of the world.

So thank you, Mr.Hardy and Mr.Keohane. (haha)
I used to think "what good will come of memorizing the capital of every single country and being able to draw the map of the world free hand?" but I was completely wrong. It's probably one of the most important classes I have taken in my LIFE. Yes, my LIFE, including college. Because of this, I never say to anyone "Cool! you're from Egypt? So, what's it like to live in a pyramid?"

...unless I'm joking, ofcourse

-March '07