LEWISTON – They’ve studied hard for four years, but with days to go before graduation, a few dozen Bates College students elected to sit in for a crash course on real-life skills.
It was a lighthearted look at turning book smarts into street savvy. RealSmarts, a trio of presenters with a unique combination of skills in acting, law and common sense, led the group through scenarios aimed at helping the new students make the transition from campus life to the real world of housing, employment and credit management.
Lois Woocher Karfunkel, a Massachusetts lawyer, emphasized the need to cut through incomprehensible legalese while digging out the nuggets that protect one’s rights.
June Murphy-Katz, an educator, manager, consultant and facilitator, took turns acting as “Betty,” a lady who lost a job through unintentional yet unauthorized use of a company computer, and later as a well-to-do lady who thought lots of money automatically meant a good credit score.
Sarah Murphy-Katz, just a couple of years out of Wellesley College, used her acting background to good effect as she drew the Bates students into some participatory routines on credit ratings. She quickly got the audience’s attention when she revealed that she’s an employee of the Boston Red Sox and had a bit part in the current movie “Fever Pitch.” She told the students to look for her in the last scene, down in the corner – “but I’m really there.”
The high cost of credit and how to keep it under control seemed to be the subject that interested most students. Woocher Karfunkel said fees are a major revenue source for credit card companies, and the variety of fees “seems limited only by the imagination of the bankers.”
Sarah Murphy-Katz pointed out that credit card companies target people of college age because there’s a tendency to stick with the first credit card they have throughout most of their lives.
The RealSmarts trio made their point about reading fine print in a very effective manner. As students entered, they were given a one-page, single-spaced “Disclaimer and Release of Claims” with lots of legal boilerplate about the seminar. It stated that advice given by RealSmarts shouldn’t take the place of consulting a personal lawyer, and so forth. The students were asked to read and sign it.
As the program got under way, Karfunkel asked if anyone had noticed anything unusual about the document.
One student raised her hand. She said she’d found a line buried deep in the gobbledygook that said each signer agreed “to compensate RealSmarts in consideration for your attendance at its unique and informational seminars an amount to be determined by RealSmarts at its sole and unfettered discretion.”
The presenters quickly let the students off the hook, but they told them to remember it and “watch out when you get out there in the real world.”
RealSmarts is based in Andover, Mass. They specialize in teaching college students the skills and legal knowledge they need to make effective money management decisions, sign leases or other contracts, or take other actions with financial or legal consequences.
Comments are no longer available on this story