The Greater Valley Area Chamber of Commerce hosted an important seminar for high-school students on Friday. It was all about preparing them for reality after high school.

That reality stretched from preparing for college, going straight into the workforce or learning how to deal with their own financial situation.

Students are faced with several options that may seem to foreign to them once they get out of high school.

Some have more help at home than others when it comes to filling out college applications or a job application. Another big decision may include deciding if enlisting in the armed forces is the right decision.

It can become even more challenging when trying to balance a checkbook and deal with the daily grind of making sure there is enough money in a bank account for bills and groceries.

Beyond even trying to make those difficult decisions and grasp the complicated nature that person financial can be, Real Life 101 helped students understand the other nuisances that happen every day in “the real world.”

One of those lessons is being sure there is a backup plan for the first plan. Wanting to go to college, graduate and have a good career is excellent, but there’s always a chance something could go wrong. While we hope this doesn’t happen for any of the students in the Greater Valley Area, there has to be a dose of reality for students, and it’s necessary they learn that everything won’t go exactly how they plan.

Other quick courses included filling out financial aid forms for college, how to deal with college admissions, and one of the more important classes — how to behave in a workplace setting once out of the classroom.

We applaud the chamber for hosting this critical event for our students. We hope the next leaders of this community will take the lessons learned Friday and apply them to a successful future.