This past Wednesday, the Bite of Reality assembly took place in the west gym for seniors. Held by SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, the assembly was designed to educate students who are about to become adults on how to manage their money and navigate the real world in ways they might not have considered before.

Students were able to practice being an adult in the hour-and-a-half-long assembly. They began by using an app called Bite of Reality 2 to simulate a real adult life. The app assigned students an occupation, a credit score, a salary, a spouse, and even a child.

Nine stations were run by volunteers acting as salespeople for shopping, household needs, utilities, and other expenses adults may face. Using the salary assigned by the app, students were tasked with spending an appropriate amount of money to meet their own and their family’s needs.

When students finished spending, they returned to the bleachers and were met with a bombshell. The salespeople at each station, who were responsible for explaining how much students should spend, were instructed to sell their most expensive products. This was done to simulate the real world, where salespeople aim to sell products as effectively as possible, and to teach students not to buy everything they are told to.

Senior Emma Venegas was especially surprised, saying, “People didn’t know how to use their money correctly yet. You have to know how to budget, and before, a lot of people didn’t know how to do that, so everyone went into debt really quickly and took the more expensive route.”

The Bite of Reality assembly acted as a second chance for students who made mistakes during the activity. Many students overspent, but the experience guided them for the future. They were able to learn the true value of budgeting, managing credit, and planning for what’s ahead.