Blog
The evening began as usual, with fellowship. A shared meal with Young People who come to the youth zone, and staff. The energy in the space was excitement, filled with the sounds of chatter and laughter. Young people and Youth Zone Staff visited and caught up with each other while they ate. As the meal and chatter winded down, our Program Manager, Patrick, gathered the group’s attention to explain the evening’s activity, “The Game of Life”.
If you like playing board games, “the Game of Life” may sound familiar and bring to mind a Hasboro™ classic where players make choices, like attending college, picking a career, what car they will drive etc. as they move around the board experiencing both fortune and hardship. The Youth Zone version of this game was set up quite similarly; in an interactive life size way where participants moved throughout the Youth Zone making choices about their education, careers, transportation, housing, savings, retirement planning, leisure and grocery shopping. At the start of the game each young person was given a score card (or budget sheet). Their first stop was to pick a career. Once they had identified and selected a job they were told how much they would make a year in that profession. Participants were also told what they would make monthly and have available for bills, savings, leisure, and retirement planning. The goal of the game was to “live within their means and end the game without their bank accounts/budgets being in the negative.
The young people then went to different stations to pick out what type of housing they would have and how much it would cost. With their housing they also received an amount for how much their utilities would cost each month. They then decided where they would get their groceries. Would they be savvy Aldi shoppers or spring to spend more at Whole Foods or a similar grocer? How often would they be going out to eat or getting takeout? As Youth moved through the game of life they picked how they would get around, if they would take the bus, or what type of car they would be driving. Along each stop in the game of life, players kept a running tally of what their budget looked like. At the end of the game, they tallied up their score cards (finished their budgets) to see how they did. Did they end up in the negative, or did they plan well and end up with money left over in their budget each month?
As the game wrapped up, I had the opportunity to catch up with some of the young people to get feedback on the game and what their major take away from it was. Zymire shared with me that the game made him think about how he can be better with money and the importance of exploring multiple career paths before he decides what he wants to do post-graduation. Delaja shared that the game helped her realize the actual cost of things, how expensive things are and the differences in price between something like a studio apartment and a house. Je’Niah, like many other young people I spoke with, said that in the game of life she learned that you always need to budget.
If you like playing board games, “the Game of Life” may sound familiar and bring to mind a Hasboro™ classic where players make choices, like attending college, picking a career, what car they will drive etc. as they move around the board experiencing both fortune and hardship. The Youth Zone version of this game was set up quite similarly; in an interactive life size way where participants moved throughout the Youth Zone making choices about their education, careers, transportation, housing, savings, retirement planning, leisure and grocery shopping. At the start of the game each young person was given a score card (or budget sheet). Their first stop was to pick a career. Once they had identified and selected a job they were told how much they would make a year in that profession. Participants were also told what they would make monthly and have available for bills, savings, leisure, and retirement planning. The goal of the game was to “live within their means and end the game without their bank accounts/budgets being in the negative.
The young people then went to different stations to pick out what type of housing they would have and how much it would cost. With their housing they also received an amount for how much their utilities would cost each month. They then decided where they would get their groceries. Would they be savvy Aldi shoppers or spring to spend more at Whole Foods or a similar grocer? How often would they be going out to eat or getting takeout? As Youth moved through the game of life they picked how they would get around, if they would take the bus, or what type of car they would be driving. Along each stop in the game of life, players kept a running tally of what their budget looked like. At the end of the game, they tallied up their score cards (finished their budgets) to see how they did. Did they end up in the negative, or did they plan well and end up with money left over in their budget each month?
As the game wrapped up, I had the opportunity to catch up with some of the young people to get feedback on the game and what their major take away from it was. Zymire shared with me that the game made him think about how he can be better with money and the importance of exploring multiple career paths before he decides what he wants to do post-graduation. Delaja shared that the game helped her realize the actual cost of things, how expensive things are and the differences in price between something like a studio apartment and a house. Je’Niah, like many other young people I spoke with, said that in the game of life she learned that you always need to budget.