Assignment 7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1. The Opportunity

• I believe there is an opportunity for UF to add classes that teach young adults about life skills like learning how to do taxes, balance a check book, what stocks are and also along the lines of how to maintain a healthy diet, how to exercise for your body type, etc..

2. The Opportunity Broken Down

• The who: University of Florida students
• The what: Not having classes that teach newly independent students life skills ranging from money to health.
• The why: Because adding more classes to the course work has a lot of logistical issues ranging from what credit the class would satisfy, hiring teachers, and making the coursework and lessons. 

3. The Hypothesis

• The who: Other college students could benefit from courses like this, even some high schools could implement classes like this to prepare the students before college. 
• The what: Not every student will have the need because either they know the information because they were exposed to the information before college or the student feels like they dont need to know the information.
• The why: Another reason why this hasn't been explored is because there hasn't been a large expressed need but that could be because people dont want to explain they dont know how to do some of the basic life skills so they fake it till they make it. 

4. Interviews

• Interview #1: Alexis
• Alexis is a second year female going to school at UF. She agreed that having sequential classes that teach basic life skills as she put it would be beneficial to everyone, even if they have been exposed to it before. She said that in addition to the classes including things about finances and health, that they could also include basic politics because college students are either 17-18 (on average) when they start as a freshman and that means they are legally able to vote (or about to) and so informing them (without bias) of what they can expect to vote for and how the political structure is at every level could be very valuable. Alexis said that this opportunity could be one that over time, as new ideas and issues arise that people are dealing with, the program/courses can be adapted or added, which could be a very useful thing because times change fast and the issues we face now might not be issues anymore in future years. 
• Interview #2: Alyssa:
• Alyssa, aka Aly, is my sister who is a junior in High school and I wanted to interview her because I wanted to get the perspective from someone who is not in college and see if they would find these classes beneficial in high school or when they enter college. She said that her school has a Home Ec. class that teaches students how to cook, make and follow recipes, and basic sewing skills. she said that this was very insightful to her and even though going into the class she didn't know she was lacking these skills, after the semester, she left glad that she knows how to cook basic things for herself and how to hem a dress and pants, which is a skill she said has helped her a lot with clothes. She said that some classes would be more suited to college students who have to deal with taxes and loans but in high school she wouldn't mind being introduced to the concepts so she didn't feel overwhelmed when she hit college. 
• Interview #3 Caleb:
• I interviewed Caleb because he is a freshman and I wanted to know if he felt that there were any skills he thought he was lacking that he hadn't found a resource to assist him on campus. Caleb said that since he is on a meal plan, that he hasn't encountered the problem of having to cook for himself but he knows that he lacks in that department and that he plans on eventually living off campus, where being on the meal plan would be "ridiculous". He said that he alos just got a job on campus in the dining hall so that now he has a paycheck, he recognizes he will need to be informed about how to manage money, taxes, and everything involved in being a employed student.
• Interview #4 Kaitlyn:
• Kaitlyn is a current senior graduating this semester and I wanted to interview her because she is a mentor to freshmen students and I wanted to see if she has noticed any patterns with her past mentees regarding a lacking in any of the skills the proposed courses would cover. She said that her past mentees have always expressed some sort of embarrassment for not knowing how to do their laundry or being confused about how the loan process works because they assume they are the only one with this problem. They confide in her about it because that is what she is there for but she thinks that if they had a class teaching them these skills it could eliminate some stress from students about things that shouldn't be stressful, and instead focus on their academic courses. 
• Interview #5 Jacob:
• Jacob is a freshman in High School here in Gainesville who I've gotten to know through  community service and I wanted to know what skills he already knew and if he knew of any programs his school had in place to teach life skills to students. Jacob said that he knows how to cook but that is only due to his mom and older sisters making him learn early on. He then said his school has something similar to a business academy that the students accepted learn about financial statements and the basic accounting info but that it isn't available to all students, only students accepted into the program. He said he wished there was something that he could eventually take, when it was more applicable to him, that taught him the basics of money because he is interested in business. 

4. Summary of Ideas

• From my interviews, I learned a lot. I learned that the course topics can include politics, health, finances, and cooking. All very diverse topics that are beneficial to people entering adulthood. I also learned that there are some programs in high schools trying to tackle some of these problems but not every student is required to take it because its an elective or that there is an application process where not every student gets accepted. I think I got a good range of responses, but I didn't get any negative responses which I wasn't expecting. I got some hesitation to which age would be the best to target with the courses but besides that it was overall positive or interested. I also learned that some students feel that they should be embarrassed about lacking information about these life skills, which I found sad because it isn't their fault, it is a lack of education from either parents, teachers, coaches, siblings etc. So making a class required as a intro class would be beneficial to students who might otherwise not chose to take it because they don't want to express the need for help.