Something from school I still use almost every day is touch typing, which means typing without looking at the keyboard. I'm a forty-two-year-old legal secretary in Colombo, and I learned it in a compulsory computer class when I was about thirteen.
It was taught in a small, hot computer room with old machines, in two lessons a week for one term. Our teacher, Mrs Perera, was very strict. She covered our hands with a piece of cardboard so we couldn't peek, and we had to repeat boring exercises like 'asdf jkl' again and again. At the time, most of us thought it was pointless, because we only used computers at school.
Now I use it constantly. In my job, I type up contracts, letters and notes from meetings, sometimes for six or seven hours a day. Because my fingers know where every key is, I can look at the lawyer while he's speaking or keep my eyes on a handwritten document and type at the same time. I also use it at home to help my son with school projects and to message my sister in Australia.
It's been useful because it saves so much time and energy. A colleague of mine types with two fingers, and she takes nearly twice as long, and she often gets neck pain from looking up and down. Typing well also helped me get my current job; the interview included a speed test, and I came first. It's funny, because it was probably the least exciting lesson I ever had, yet it's had more practical value than chemistry or history. I still think of Mrs Perera and her cardboard whenever I type quickly.