We all know how college is like, with all that excitement, pressure, learning, fun, and the busy bits, we tend to overlook some areas that need development. College teaches us a lot of things, from core education and industry relevant skills to life lessons, but it can’t teach us everything in life even though they can be very important. So, let’s take a look at some crucial aspects of living in the society that college doesn’t teach us.
Adulting
The term adulting has no precise definition and a lot of things come under the concept of adulting. From the responsibilities that adults have to deal with, the behavioural aspects of it, and even how to deal with things in life is not something that can be easily taught. This is very important, and having a headstart and knowing what to expect can put you in a much better place when facing the real deal. Subjective things like this can be hard to “teach” because there is no direct system of teacher-learner involved, and colleges can take this factor into consideration and help students learn it on their own through experiences.
Networking
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of networking for a student. Networking can mean the difference between a mediocre career and your career taking off. Unfortunately, this isn’t an acquired skill but, people can still learn networking and be good enough with it to advance in their fields. Colleges may have clubs or courses related to communication and speaking skills but no one realizes the difference between networking and just communication skills. Since this is a very crucial aspect of one’s career, it must be taken seriously. The college or university can also hold networking events for students to attend and gain confidence in.
Taxes
Another important concept not taught in colleges except for business and economics majors is the concept of taxes. As a student, I can only imagine the perplexity of filing taxes during the tax return season and even though I have some knowledge about it, it’s hard to wrap my head around it. This can be directly taught in classes.
Picking a job
In college, “A job is good” is all we hear often. Students work really hard to build their applications only to be oblivious about picking the worthy job. You may get several job offers but none of them may be worth it, and you’re never going to find out without negotiating with the prospective employer. You’d be surprised at the flexibility and the willingness to negotiate from the employer.
Financial Management
This is a very elaborate area with things like investing, handling money, credit cards, and the concept of debt involved. It is actually surprising that many colleges don’t teach students the basics of Financial Management because of which, the students end up making poor financial choices right after they graduate.
This is just a tiny list of important things not taught in college which understates the importance of all the other areas in which a student must venture into and learn on their own. On the institute’s part, there can be a system put in place that can identify crucial developmental areas and aim to teach the students.
