Being an independent adult 101

We often hear stereotypes related to the generation Y like they are treated like kings, they are spoiled kids that never grow up, that they stay at their parent’s home until 30 years old, etc. Those stereotypes blame young people for not being independent adult. But what describe an independent adult? What are the skills needed for this title? How and where do we get them?

First of all, let’s respond to the first question: what are the skills needed to be an independent adult? I split those skills in four groups: the academic knowledge, the living abilities, the social abilities and the healthy habits. The first category is mainly the general knowledge. To be an independent adult, a person needs to know one thing or two. I think that the most someone knows the best it is. Being aware of the world around is essential. Knowledge in history makes a person understand where he or she comes from, knowledge in politics and economics makes a person understand how the world works and knowledge in science makes a person understand how the nature around works. The second group contains all basic abilities needed in a home. It is impossible to live independently without knowing how to cook, to clean, to do the laundry and to manage money. If someone has not mastered those skills, someone will have to do it for him or her. The third group is social abilities. The human is a sociable animal. He lives in society, so it is vital to know how to act in society.  For example, making a good impression is useful for a job or knowing how to make friends prevents from living a lonely life. The fourth and last category is the healthy habits. It includes a good balance between the work, the social life and the family life, eating healthy food, practicing physical activities and knowing how to relax. It is good to be clever and to know how to manage a home and a relationship, but, if the lifestyle is unhealthy, there is no quality of life. It is impossible to enjoy fully the independent life.

Second of all, let’s review all the groups of skills, but now responding to the questions how and where. First, we can get academic knowledge in school, obviously. Even if some people think that school is useless, it is not. However, we can get it elsewhere like in books, on the Internet, at TV, from someone, etc. School has not the knowledge monopoly. We can get this skill by listening to people, to the world around or by researching, being curious. Second, we only can get living abilities by practicing. It is like learning how to pedal. We just have to try it. It is possible to try to learn by watching someone, but seriously no one can get Ricardo’s talent by only watching his TV show. We cannot learn those skills in school, so we just have to learn on the job. Third, we can get social abilities in school. It is a great environment for this purpose because there are plenty of people at the same place each day. It is easier to make lasting relationships this way. We can learn it at home too. Parents can teach good social values like respect and politeness. We get those skills by trails and errors. With experience and supervision we can become relatively accomplished social persons. Fourth, we usually learn health habits at home. It is mostly the parents that influence children on this matter. After childhood, we can decide to continue those habits or to change them based on what we now believe in. Friends, society and awareness campaign can influence us too. We can learn those skills by repeating again and again healthy actions until they become habits.

To conclude, to be an independent adult we need skills from four categories: the academic knowledge, the living abilities, the social abilities and the healthy habits. I think it is impossible to master them all. Nobody is perfect. Each person has his or her flaws.  For some, it is the healthy part or others it is the living abilities. We just have to do our best to survive in our wild world.