Remember when you graduated from the sixth grade and immediately went to interview for a CEO position at a national company? Didn’t go so well, did it? Especially when they asked for your references and you provided the contact information for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (Manhole Cover #723, NY, NY)
Turns out a lot of prospective employers prefer that their employees be educated. At a minimum, “educated” usually means a high school diploma. So what are the options for someone without a high school diploma? Shine shoes, clean windshields or become an actor? Things can’t be that desperate, can they?
Enter the GED. This high school equivalency exam gives individuals who might otherwise struggle trying to find their place in the workforce an opportunity to thrive. Shmoop, a publisher of digital curriculum and test prep, is now offering a comprehensive guide to the GED that will prepare hopefuls in advance of this all-important test. They won’t be able to recreate the unique experience of sitting through Study Hall, but take a half hour nap then carve your girlfriend’s name into the top of your desk and you should be good to go.
- Learn how to conquer “real-world” math situations like counting change, filling pools, and measuring the distance from the base of a tree to the end of its shadow. When measuring giant redwood shadows, please remember to pack a pair of comfortable shoes.
- Get the scoop on how to analyze everything from poetry to plays to your parents’ relationship. “Yes, mom, but how does it make you feel?”
- Infer like a laboratory boss, learn all the “unzip your genes” jokes fit to print, and discover the real reason Pluto is no longer a planet (we hear it got in trouble for pantsing Orion, who should have tightened his belt).
- Become well-versed in the history of everything—or at least the United States and the world—and sharpen your skills with sections on civics and government, geography, and economics. Wait – there was another Tea Party?
- Discover how to slice and dice sentences like a ninja, muscle your way through an essay, and ace all those questions about organization, usage, and mechanics. It’s okay – the grammar nazis won’t bother you any longer. Their, they’re.
It’s a man(with a high school diploma)’s world out there, and Shmoop can help students without that little rolled-up piece of paper succeed in spite of it. GED doesn’t quite stand for “Guaranteed, Easy Degree,” but with Shmoop’s guide you will feel like it does.