Personal finance – the newest requirement to graduate from high school in the great state of Missouri – is  a survey course on general consumer economics. It also is the 46 minutes that occupies the time formerly known as my lunch period.

From learning how to get a job to building a stock portfolio, the class is supposed to arm students with the tools to confront the “real world.”

As soon as I heard of this new requirement, I instinctively cringed. I tried everything to get out of that class. Since freshman year I have been talking to the teacher, the counselors, the principals, I even thought about going to the school board.

I tried testing out, taking it pass-fail, independent study, correspondence, or online.

I have never spent more time fighting “the man” than I have when trying to avoid this class.

It is hard to say if it was the horror stories of boredom I had heard from peers who had already taken the course, my self-proclaimed financial maturity, or the fact that I was being forced to take the class that fueled my fire to get out of personal finance.

Most likely it was a combination of all three that made the perfect medley of utter loathing for the class.

But of course, it was all for nothing. Giving up my second semester senior lunch for personal finance not only signified my complete and utter failure but the beginning of my demise.

On the first day of class I nearly had to be dragged in by all four appendages.

I had already decided that I hated the personal nature of finance and nothing was going to change my mind.

For the first few weeks that is how I approached the class. While never revealing my unwavering hatred for the class, I sat quietly in the room counting the minutes until class was over.

However, between the endless busy work and the mind numbing worksheets, something astonishing happened. I learned something!

I was already well versed in the vast amount of information the class covers – how to write a check, the importance of saving, and how to calculate interest.

Nonetheless, once in a while I came across unchartered territory – the different between a Roth IRA and an IRA, how to endorse a check over to someone else, and how to fill out my tax forms.

As I started noting the items I was learning, I realized that in all honesty, the class isn’t that bad.

The lectures are tolerable, the homework is basically non-existent and the concepts are easy lifting.

I doubt that I have evaded some kind of catastrophic financial crises because I have taken this class, but I can say with confidence that because of this class I am a more educated consumer and participant in the American economy.

So yes, I would much rather have my lunch back, but in the end personal finance is not that bad.