Things one should know...

[Mycroft]

Ok, first off do not kill or change this thread (I am not naming names or offending anyone just pleas). What are somethings a modern 18 year, going to college old should know how to do or know etc. Like tie a tie...etc.

 

["Doc" Devereux]

In my (not always) humble opinion...

Cook a meal (even if it's only one dish)
Polish shoes properly
Iron their clothes (something I hate as much as anyone else, but it's a useful skill)
Write a formal letter
Change a fuse
Wire a plug
Sew a button
Catch and release a spider from a bath or sink

... and a dozen or other more things I can't think of right now. But those were some of the things my mother made a point of teaching me long before I left home because she knew they'd come in useful. She was right, too.

 

[mysterygal]

things to know

1. know how to do own laundry
2. make own bed
3. cook at least top ramen

 

[AtomicBlonde]

Learn how to do laundry on a regular basis. I find most of my male friends are able to do laundry, but they seem to not know how to do it on a weekly basis... I dispise going anywhere near the boys halls because they smell like dirty laundry... sweat and feet. They let it pile up and pile up and end up washing things only because they ran out of clothes to wear. Then, when they finish washing and drying their clothes, they leave them in the basket and never put them away... ick.
I find that college age boys regularly gross me out. Just be neat and tidy!

-Jess

 

[Jack Scorpion]

Oh come on. Do I really need to learn how to polish my shoes correctly?

-How to not let the sink fill up with dishes.
-Write a check.
-Debit/Credit.






-How to handle your alcohol.

 

["Doc" Devereux]

Oh come on. Do I really need to learn how to polish my shoes correctly?

I didn't say you had to actually do it, just know how.

You should see the stuff I didn't put on the list...

 

[Nick Charles]

Sew buttons
Mend minor holes
iron
fix a toilet
unclog a sink
change a flat
drive a stick and an automatic


those will all make life a little easier.

 

[Mycroft]

Thanks guys (and gals) keep on coming and they are really helping out.

 

[Mike K.]

The basics of day-to-day life have been covered well. But, being a professor I'd say they also need to know how to adapt to & manage their academic responsibilities. Most of the college freshmen I've encountered have no clue. They think that whatever they did in high school will work equally well in college...it won't! Teach 'em to know the difference between when it's social time and when it's time to work.

Not to sound too stiff...they also need to know how to use a screw driver, bottle opener, RIT color remover (nothing like a load of pink "whites"), keg pump, fire extinguisher (don't ask), duct tape, birth control (oh #%!@, did I just say that?), toga, and roach poison.

 

[magneto]

...
-Write a check.
-Debit/Credit.

Perhaps implicit in the above but worth mentioning: how to make a budget and stick to it...

How to change a tire and do minor car troubleshooting. Even if s/he doesn't have a car, it's useful to know, for those times when you're driving along with somebody repair-impared and get a flat/breakdown miles out of cellphone range.

 

[scotrace]

Wow. Let's be practical.
How about,
How to drink a lot of hooch without showing it.
How to clear a dorm room of empty beer cans quickly and efficiently.
How to get your turn in the shower before the hot water is gone.
How to install a Kensington lock on your laptop.
How to check for girlfriend's unmentionables before sending the sheets home to mom for laundering.
And of course, How to drink coffee black and strong.

 

[AtomicBlonde]

Wow. Let's be practical.
How about,
How to drink a lot of hooch without showing it.
How to clear a dorm room of empty beer cans quickly and efficiently.
How to get your turn in the shower before the hot water is gone.
How to install a Kensington lock on your laptop.
How to heck for girlfriend's unmentionables before sending the sheets home to mom for laundering.
And of course, How to drink coffee black and strong.

You go to college to learn those things. He wants to know what he needs to learn before he goes to college!

 

[Lincsong]

If he doesn't he'll learn real quick to;

1. keep a supply of toilet paper locked and hidden in the dorm room.
2. quarters, lots of quarters for the laundry.lol
3. Always request a non-smoking roommate and say he studies a lot. This way he'll more than likely end up with someone who will keep the room clean and not eat all his food or drink all his booze.
4.Learn how to wash whites separetly from the coloreds.:eusa_doh:
5.Spend long hours in the library studying.
6.Get used to having a bucket of cold water thrown over the shower wall every once in a while.
7.Walk over drunks.
8. That money doesn't grow on trees and he can't rely on the money pit for ever.
9.Learning to get a long with all different types of people.
10.If he ends up with a slob roommate. Remember, he paid for half the room also so draw a line down the middle of the room, what he does on his side is no business of yours.

 

[Mike K.]

Tip -- watch the movie ANIMAL HOUSE

 

[Mycroft]

Tip -- watch the movie ANIMAL HOUSE

Toga, Toga, Toga...

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

What are somethings a modern 18 year, going to college old should know how to do or know etc.

How to find out things.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

What to know ...

Depends where you're going.

Certainly at Purdue, students are not too hot on people who look different (read fedora, suit, tie, etc.). Unless you fall into a neat little category (grunge, goth, mod etc), be prepared to take some abuse. For all the talk of aiming for individuality, you must fit in or be a pariah.

bk

 

[geo]

Know how to relax.

 

[matei]

Some very good suggestions there.

They are all things that I had to learn on my own, as I was not listening when someone tried to explain them to me!

I think that being discretion is a valuable skill. No one likes or trusts a blabbermouth or gossiper.

Confidence in yourself is very important. That might sound like the stuff of those stupid inspirational posters, but it is true. Exuding an air of confidence can often take you the rest of the way when know-how and skills have been exhausted! ;-)

Know how to speak in front of people with confidence. I took a public speaking course in school as a "filler" course, but it turned out to be extremely important.

Polishing shoes (for real, not with the insta-shine) is a dying skill! The state of a man's shoes tell you a lot about the man himself.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Quoting Robert Heinlein (from 'The Notebooks of Lazarus Long' in "Time Enough For Love"):

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.