Vintage is already getting old again, but most college students would probably think it was old-fashioned, or even sexist, if colleges offered home ec courses. But as you learn to live on your own when you live on campus, shouldn’t you actually develop some skills other than occasionaly doing your laundry or making budget liquor taste slightly more respectable? Cooking, gardening, sewing on new buttons, and doing your laundry without ruining your clothes are all skills you should have some grasp of by the time you graduate college and enter the real world, and if your school doesn’t offer a seminar, you and your friends should find ways to practice on your own.
First, learn how to do your laundry the right way. It costs more, but separating your laundry according to a few very basic standards is worth it. Never wash a new brightly colored item the first time with anything other than pieces of the same color, and it’s a good idea to wash sheets, towels and underwear together, too, so that you can use hot water for extra cleaning power. Also get in the habit of checking tags: you don’t want to ruin a pricey dry-clean-only item by throwing it in the washing machine.
Cooking is another basic skill you can familiarize yourself with in college, and while it can take years to work your way up to a real gourmet, find a kitchen and practice a few elementary operations. Boiling and scrambling eggs, making rice, and learning how to cook some sort of meat dish — on the stove, in the oven, or any other way — will keep you from starving when you move to an apartment or when you graduate. Practicing your cooking skills will also encourage you to think about what kinds of foods you’re putting into your body, hopefully inspiring a new, healtheir approach to eating.
The other home ec skills you learn — or try to teach yourself along with friends or an off-campus class — could be anything from learning how to sew on a button to experimenting with container gardening. These practical lessons also act as a productive distraction from your intellectual work, and there’s nothing old-fashioned about getting back to basics.
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