Blog 7

 Real World Skills:

    Everyone is sent into adulthood knowing different basic skills learned from their parents and school, yet most of us spend the first few years in adulthood learning the skills that we actually need by ourselves. From these skills, basic cooking is one everyone should have to learn before they transition to their adult lives. Being able to cook and eat 5 meals at home weekly drastically changes a person's livelihood and financial means. Preparing your own food with fresh and clean ingredients, where you can change and keep what you want increases the nutrients you receive and overall benefits your health. As we get older many of us lose our daily physical activity and gain unhealthy eating habits and weight. This can be avoided by making meals at home where you have control and getting healthy benefits versus fast food. Fast and processed food tends to have high fat and cholesterol levels that directly affect health in the long run in a negative way. This food may be good for the moment, but it is probably one of the worst daily decisions you can make. 

    Furthermore, eating out daily makes your pockets hurt especially if you are a broke college student. Most jobs pay around $8-10, if you work 20 hours a week you make nearly $160- $200 in a week. However eating out 5 times a week spending around $11 a meal you spend $55 in one week, one-fourth of your paycheck. This is an unnecessary expense to be added to all other expenses such as rent, tuition, and transportation. However, if you just made food at home that would be around $40 per week for 5 meals (which you can eat multiple times). This itself would save so much money for the future that you can put towards other expenses. 

    Cooking can also provide many emotional benefits. Having to work with several different skills and learning the balance of different spices and sweets, increases creativity in a person. Being able to experiment and learn from the failure of your recipes will better your problem-solving skills. These skills can be implemented in the real world when facing issues in jobs and more. Cooking also proves to soothe stress for many people. It may seem like a lot of work, but once you get into working and cooking at your own rate, memorizing the recipes, you feel a sense of calmness getting to make food at your own will. Cooking also encourages focus and organization. When you are making a meal you have to know what step you are on and give your attention to every minor detail. Also, you must be aware of your surroundings and know where everything is. No one can cook in a mess, something will end up bad.

    Personally, I need to learn to cook myself still. I can only make air-fried food, but other than that I'm doomed for failure. I will be taking a meal per week starting in the winter break, so hopefully by the time I have to move out, I can make at least 7 things that remind me of both home but also have a part of me in them.