Teaching College Students REAL Life Skills by Kaitlyn

Teaching College Students REAL Life Skills by Kaitlyn - August 2017 Scholarship Essay

College prepares you for your career. It teaches you to become an independent individual. You leave with a plethora of knowledge, a degree, and possibly already a job. Many students are already looking ahead. However, there are many things that college does not stress the importance of learning before you leave their institution. Some of these skills include: homeownership, housekeeping, handling taxes, and banking skills (understanding your finances). If I were a college professor, I would want to teach students non-academic skills that were equally as important (if not more) as academic skills; a REAL Life Skills 101 course.
I am very passionate about medicine and the human body and therefore my original choice for this essay was a Biology professor. Although, as I thought further, I wondered what I would want to learn that I had not already learned from a professor in college. I’ve had fantastic English, Spanish, Psychology, Math, and even Biology professors. Which is why I’ve come to the conclusion that there are many non-academic skills that I do not possess. I’ve never done taxes. I have never balanced a check book. Nor do I have a clue as to the responsibility of owning or renting my first home. I have not encountered a professor in my collegiate career that has exposed me to these skills, which I feel are very necessary and important to know.
Not to discredit any of the courses we are required to take, as many of those help us explore our interests and find our passion. However, I still believe that a course which explains how to fill out a W-2, or a course detailing how to build credit as a college student should be just as much a graduation requirement as a theatre arts course or having a minimum of 12 English credits. There are classes offered teaching you how to build your resume, to secure a job in your chosen profession from nine-to-five, but then what? How beneficial would it be to learn how to pay off your student loans and be able to afford a house at the same time?
Many might say that these skills should be taught at home, and while students do learn a great deal about the REAL world at home, college is the perfect opportunity to fully understand the responsibilities and tasks essential for them to thrive in the REAL world. Our professors are teaching us a multitude of information to help us in our careers, but they could also use that as an opportunity to teach us personal skills so that we will be well-rounded individuals, both personally and professionally.