Practical Life Skills Every College Student Should Have

For high school students who are used to existing in a highly structured environment where most of their decisions are made for them, college — and all of its freedoms — can be quite a shock.

Every college freshman suddenly realizes that they’re solely responsible for themselves: They control their whole schedule, including when to get up, when to go to bed, when to study and when not to. The flip side of that coin, of course, is that nobody is there to get them out of bed for class if they oversleep or looking over their shoulder to make sure they’re using their time wisely.

There’s also nobody around to help them with the sort of things that kids today call “adulting.” (Parents still probably call it “basic life skills.”) That’s why they need to know the basics before they hit campus.

7 Basic Life Skills Young Adults Need Before They Hit Campus

Many academic high-achievers are a little sheltered by their parents during high school — for good reason. Parents try to relieve their students of as many mundane burdens as possible so that they can concentrate on their studies and other academic pursuits.

Once high school ends and college begins, however, parents can’t help their students handle certain basics from afar. To make sure that your child is prepared for the responsibilities of adulthood on campus, here is a list of seven things they need to know how to do on their own:

1. Manage their money: Make sure your student knows how to create and manage their budget. If you can, let them practice making decisions with a small allowance for a few months before they leave home.
2. Wash their own laundry: Nothing will break a budget faster than having to replace all their clothes after they accidentally turn everything they own bright pink because they didn’t know to separate colors from whites. Have your child start doing their own laundry well before they hit campus.
3. Cook a few meals: Your child doesn’t need to be a gourmet cook, but they should be able to make a few budget-friendly meals without a guide. Make sure they understand the basics of safe food handling, how to work a stove and what to do if they accidentally start a fire.
4. Clean up after themselves: Some people are naturally neat, some aren’t. If your child falls into the latter category, make sure that they know how to clean a bathroom, wash dishes, pick up after themselves and disinfect frequently touched surfaces. This protects their health (and makes them better roommate material).
5. Navigate a city: Your child probably has no problem downloading apps and using them — but make sure they’re familiar with Google Maps. They should be able to use it to guide themselves to an unfamiliar destination on foot, by bike or in a car.
6. Protect themselves: Nobody can afford to be naive. Young adults can and will find themselves in situations where they don’t feel safe. Make sure that they know things like how to ask for an escort to their car at night when they leave a building, how to work a “buddy system” when they go out with friends and how to call the authorities when they need help.
7. Manage their time: It’s easy to procrastinate yourself into a nightmare, so make sure that your teenager has a calendar and knows how to use it to schedule school tasks, work and general life tasks (like doing the laundry). It’s good to get a little practice in before they head off to school.

Some kids will take to these tasks easier than others, but the sooner you start introducing grown-up responsibilities into your teenager’s world, the easier they’ll find adult life once they’re miles away on their own at the university of their dreams.