Adulting Course Offered at Major College

Some undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) noticed that they needed real-life skills to help prepare them to become adults. There was no course available to help them. Therefore, they created their own "Adulting" course which is different from traditional courses at the No. 1 public university in the United States and fourth-best university in the world.

Students Who Designed the Course

When Belle Lau, 21, and Jenny Zhou, 20, moved out of their dormitories and into apartments, the women quickly found themselves struggling with tasks they knew nothing about. It was last year that the students had the idea to design a course that would not only help them, but it would help other students as well to learn life skills that are usually overlooked in most college curriculums.

The two college students first thought it would be just a cooking class. After brainstorming, they quickly expanded the course because they needed to know much more about other things. Therefore, they settled on developing an adulting course.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Lau said college students are being thrown out into the world after they graduate with book knowledge but not much life experience. The molecular and cell biology major from Washington admitted that she and many other students knew nothing about being an adult.

Description of Adulting Course

Lau and Zhou designed the entire curriculum, and the college approved it. The course was offered for the first time last spring and is in high demand by mostly male and female seniors. All 30 available spaces were quickly filled, and about 70 students had to be put on the waiting list. To accommodate more students, Lau and Zhou added a second session the next semester. More than 200 students were required to fill out applications explaining why they wanted to take the course. Fewer than half of them were able to get a spot in the classroom.

The format of the 12-week course is mostly sharing ideas and solutions among the students. Each session lasts 90-minutes. The two creators of the course give a presentation that is followed by an expert who give practical information about the topic they are discussing. Last year, a recruiter from Lyft taught students about job searching, and an accountant shared information about filing taxes.

At the beginning of this semester, students set goals based on the acronym SMART that stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based.

The course includes learning real-life skills that every adult should know and use. The lessons include preparing a budget, paying taxes, navigating romantic relationships, and managing stress. Budgeting is a major part of the course because it was a challenge for Lau and Zhou to live on a budget. They admit they were spending too much money by often eating out.

Reactions to the Adulting Course

There have been positive responses to the course. One female participant said she wanted to become more dependable so people could count on her. Another student said she didn't know how to find her own doctor or get a loan. Many of the students who were able to get into the course admitted that many of the skills they are learning were not taught by their parents before they left home to go to college.

Parents who know their students are enrolled in the adulting course think it is a great idea. Some parents described the curriculum as unique. They are glad their children are learning so much about being an adult. The course is making it much easier on the parents. One example is that the college students won't be taking dirty laundry home for their parents to wash because they are taught the proper way to do their own laundry.

It is correct to say that Lau and Zhou saw a need and they filled it.