I'm So Happy I Can Use a Washing Machine by Hayden

I'm So Happy I Can Use a Washing Machine by Hayden - June 2025 Scholarship Essay

You would be surprised by how many seventeen-year-olds do not know how to wash their own clothes. This issue arose in my junior pre-calculus class when a classmate said he did not have any clean sweatshirts because his mom forgot to do his laundry. As we started polling, I realized the minority of my peers did their own laundry or even knew how to wash clothes at all. The moment was thought provoking– I had been doing my own laundry, running the dishwasher, and waking myself up in the morning since the third grade. More than anything, this realization made me grateful to my parents for teaching me independence and important life skills early on in my life. Then, the more I thought about the other skills I had, I saw how many of my classmates did not.
There are many reasons why people lack basic life skills that support self-sufficiency: many parents feel that they do not have the time to have teachable moments with their children, many people may not have someone in their life who can teach them, and some just do not want to learn. This issue is frankly plaguing my generation, but why? What did our parents have that we do not? The answer is home economics
Home economics, or home ec, is not required in most high schools. Home ec teaches students basic home management and self sufficiency skills. Personally, my school has no home ec classes, but offers other courses that touch on some aspects of it, like personal finance and nutrition. While those classes are good options, their content does not cover the broad set of basics that would come with home ec Skills like cooking, sewing/mending, washing clothes, budgeting, and childcare are vital for high school students to know. We already have coursework that prepares us for college, but what about after? If we do not start teaching the youth of today, they will be set up for failure in an already scary transition into the real world.