How NSA Prepares Students for the Real World
By Alana C.
Real World Neon Sign by ibreakstock Created in Canva
“Why am I learning this? It’s not like I’ll be using this in the real world!”
This is a question I imagine that almost every student has asked at one point or another. Whether you’re solving quadratic equations or writing an essay on the food chains of the animals where you are living, it’s universal for a student to ask themselves, “What’s the point?” While I do understand this line of thinking and have even been there myself, I believe NSA does prepare students incredibly well for the real world. From understanding how to have self-discipline to learning how to learn, students are acquiring important lifelong skills that go beyond academics.
One of the first things I learned starting in sixth grade as a student at NorthStar is how to set up my own schedule. This was a big adjustment for me, shifting from a brick-and-mortar school to an online school. Up until this point, I had a bell to tell me when to start my next class. I had teachers everyday reminding me when my work was supposed to be submitted. At NorthStar, when you submit your work and when you complete your assignments is all up to you. While at first that was really daunting, now that I’ve been at NorthStar for five years, I can confidently say that the ability to have self-discipline when doing my schoolwork has been one of my greatest skills.
When speaking to my older brother, who graduated from NSA in 2025 and is now at Liberty University, he told me one thing NSA did really well was prepare him for the workload of college. He went on to explain how he is able to balance hanging out with his friends while also keeping up with his schoolwork more easily than many other students there who never learned how to set their own schedules.
Another incredibly vital skill that I learned at NorthStar is learning how to learn. Now, you may be wondering what exactly I mean by this. Let’s say you are researching to write a paper, and you find yourself wondering if this is something that can actually be applied to your future. While whether your essay is actually something that you will use in the future is up for debate, the question of whether this is worth your time is not. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only about 31% of American adults demonstrated proficient prose literacy (Kutner et al.), meaning they could successfully complete complex and challenging literacy tasks. Your research, the ability to form your thoughts into concise paragraphs, and the time it took were definitely worth it. These are the skills that will certainly be used in your everyday life and allow you to stand out.
The last thing I have learned, which I believe to be most important in the real world, is learning to do hard things. I like to go on runs. There is one thing I say to myself when I am on an especially hard run, and I feel like there is no point in moving forward: “No one said it was going to be easy.” When you were five or six years old and began school, no one promised it was going to be the easiest next twelve years of your life. Why? Because it’s supposed to be hard. That’s how you grow and improve. Life is hard, and a school that doesn’t challenge you is a school that is setting you up for failure in the real world.
The real world has hard moments. That is why I am so grateful for the nights I spent figuring out how to solve quadratic functions. While it can be frustrating, don’t let a rough research paper convince you that learning isn’t applicable to the real world. I am grateful I am able to learn. I am grateful I know how to follow my own deadlines. I’m grateful NSA allows me to make mistakes. Because mistakes are how we learn, and isn’t that what school is all about?
Columns: 👤NSA People, 🧑🚀NSA Culture,
Alana C. is in tenth grade and has been with NSA for five years. Most of Alana's work is accomplished at a coffee shop. She loves to paint and draw; she hopes to one day have a career in fine arts. She also enjoys reading, going to the gym, listening to music, hanging out with her friends, running, and travelling.