Janise Griffin cried after struggling with her budget to make ends meet. With three children and a job as a hairdresser paying $1,800 a month, she said she would have to find a second job or face bankruptcy within a month.

''And those costs are only the necessities. Now I know what my mother is going through with four kids and she never finished school,'' Griffin said. ''Now I know how much I really need to finish school and get better grades.''

Griffin, who has a grade-point average of 2.4 at Buchtel High School, was simulating a real-world experience in making a financial budget.

The number of children, the career and the income amounts were assigned to her as part of a program called Reality Check, which teaches the students how to budget in order to live in today's world. About 200 sophomores at Buchtel took part last week.

Career Education Specialist Gloria Harms said the program is designed to wake up students about their future. ''It's to make them aware of what it's like in the real world and to introduce them to finances at an earlier age before they graduate, so they have a chance to make some changes in their behavior and attitude toward school,'' Harms said.

''Their salary and occupation are based on how well they are doing in school,'' she said.

The event is sponsored by the Akron Realtist Association, a minority group of real estate professionals. About 50 minority business professionals were on hand to help students with their financial decisions.

Jennifer Rodgers, president of the Akron Realtist Association, said Reality Check teaches students how to make the best financial decisions and how important it is to get a good education in order to get a good-paying job.

Some of the careers were based on not only the students' GPA but interests as well.

A registered nurse career was assigned to Brianna Foster, along with three children. She has a 3.73 GPA and found it difficult to juggle child care, insurance and housing. Her plan was to purchase a home and not a car.

''I walk everywhere I go, but with three children I may have to revisit that,'' said said.

She tried to get a loan with the bank for a car. ''They wouldn't give me a loan, so I hired an attorney, but he was costly. I had to pay him $200.''

She said the exercise only added to her determination to stay focused on her

grades and follow her dream to become a neurosurgeon.

The attorney Brianna hired, Kevionne Jeffries, 15, has a 3.4 GPA. He also said budgeting was a challenge. He was given one child and was able to purchase a home and decided to buy a less expensive car with better gas mileage rather than an upgraded model.

There wasn't much action at the entertainment booth. ''They have to handle their responsibilities first,'' said Phyllis Anderson, loan originator at First Place Bank in Ravenna. ''If I see they are spending wisely and have some money left over after they pay their necessities, then that's OK, but so far I keep sending them away.''

One student, Alan Brown, was told he was a factory worker with no children. He was relieved to know he had not been given any children, but felt his salary was still too low to afford entertainment. He walked away knowing that he definitely didn't want to be a factory worker, so it was an incentive to reach a goal to be something else.

Realtist Celeste Tolbert of Sailes Realty said she talked to a young man who said he was ready to come see her to buy his first home, thanks to her.

''He reminded me that five years ago he went through the Reality Check program at Buchtel and remembered what I told him about home equity and staying away from credit-card debt. He saved for a down payment and has a credit score of 800,'' Tolbert said. ''It really made me feel good to know that we made a difference to at least one person. To me, that's what makes the program worthwhile.''