Essential Life Skills by Iglika

Essential Life Skills by Iglika - August 2017 Scholarship Essay

Given the opportunity to teach a college class, I would use that chance to teach my students a course on Essential Life Skills. Of course, this course would be biased because I would be teaching skills that I and the university would deem ‘essential’. For others, the curriculum I would create might not be enough or might be excessive. In fact, some of the skills I think are essential now might be obsolete or unnecessary to worry about, considering how fast technology and society move.
Either way, I would hope to cover enough about adult life to help my students beyond the classroom, or at least beyond their homework assignments. The course would include sections such as financial literacy and home economics, but it would be different from classes that students would have taken in high school. At least two homework assignments would require outside resources. When we cover the topic of cooking for oneself and others, students will have to bring in dishes that they themselves have prepared and will have to plan a potluck for the class and outside guests. Any and all nutrition basics we covered must be shown through their creation of balanced meals with variety and proper technique. Another assignment would be to research how to set up a line of credit and from which bank or credit union, depending on each student’s need. Then if they desire so, they may create one as extra credit as long as they submit a detailed plan of how they will pay this credit card and any loans they have.
First and foremost, this class will be about how to take care of oneself and occasionally, how to take care of others as well. There will be a sizable section on self-care and mental health. Students will learn how to find the care that they need, either through a therapist, a gynecologist or any other medical professional. They will learn the warning signs of certain disorders and will create a plan for when they feel certain emotions or are in a dangerous mental place.
Secondary to its main goal of independence, this class also will strive to teach students about how to interact with the outside world and their peers. They will learn how to manage a social life, including learning how to set up personal boundaries, how to comfort a loved one, and what to do when they are hurt by others. There are no classes presently on human interaction and its complexities. While socializing is usually a skill that is learned through talking with others, this class will attempt to show its students a different way of approaching difficult situations.
All in all, I would create this class to share and learn with my students the skills necessary to make their everyday lives easier and organized. Many of these skills used to be taught in schools but have been forgotten or deemed unnecessary. Yet, some of the things these students will learn in their secondary school experience and sometimes in college, will not help them in their everyday life. In fact, certain skills, like automotive mechanical repair and investment knowledge, are never taught and are crucial to dealing with life’s surprises and opportunities. This is really a course that I would like to take myself because often, it feels like there are too many everyday things to learn and too many easy mistakes to make.