College is a big transition for first-year students, as for many of them it’s their first time living on their own or with a roommate. There are several responsibilities that come with day-to-day life; some people take them on early and some people take them on later. 

Unfortunately, this can cause issues. It’s common to hear “roommate horror stories” throughout college and many complaints seem to boil down to three main reasons: pure difference of personality, lack of independence and lack of domestic skills such as cleanliness, cooking and more.

The first one may be hard to fix. Of course, not everyone is going to get along with everyone, and randomized roommates are prone to clashes between lifestyles. Empathy and patience are hard to teach through a class, but independence and domestic skills actually used to be part of a standard school curriculum in the mid-20th century. 

Until its decline in the ‘70s and ‘80s, home economics classes were an integral part of middle and sometimes high schools. There were many reasons for the nullification of the classes,  some being a shift in perceived importance of these skills when compared to career-oriented skills, and a perception that home ec classes followed a woman-homemaker narrative. 

Even though society tends to be more career-driven now, it’s still important to learn these skills because even though some people may choose a career, they likely still have a home and finances. 

College living is a great example as to why these skills are necessary. A common ground of cleaning skills would solve a vast number of roommate disputes and increase the overall quality of life for students. Not only do these classes instill the idea of importance with cleanliness, but they also specifically demonstrate how to clean different materials, and information about cleaning products. 

This would save a lot of money for a student who may not know what the best product would be to clean a certain surface or material and ends up going through trial and error. No more panicked guessing through stain removal products and ruining loads of laundry with bleach. Knowing exactly what chemicals to avoid mixing and where to keep them stored would also be a safety measure. 

Eating, budgeting and cooking skills would help alleviate the dreaded diet of ramen noodles and frozen food, or plain chicken and rice. Though time and money are generally concerns when it comes to cooking in college, there are a lot of unique recipes out there that could be achieved with previous experience. 

This day and age, there are millions of recipes at our fingertips through Google, YouTube, TikTok and more, but a good prior grasp on cooking basics is what allows for more creativity in the kitchen. Like other traditionally home-taught skills, not everyone’s parents taught them cooking skills growing up, so some students may be entering college without ever having cooked for themselves. A class with even just the basics may be a tremendous help to some. 

Beyond home-related skills, home economics also fosters independence through other life skills, like working with cars. With mountainous terrain that may be harsh on cars driving in from the city, changing a tire would be a great common skill to have. 

General knowledge about car service and maintenance would eradicate the painfully common joke about referring to neglected service lights as “achievements” or “emojis” due to unfamiliarity with what they actually are. 

Regularly checking a car’s oil level is another commonly missed, but extremely important task. Many car maintenance websites recommend checking the car’s oil dipstick at least once every couple of weeks. Once again, this is a skill that would increase students’ safety as well as save them a lot of money. 

Home economics should be an integral part of the middle and high school curriculum once again. It would not only better prepare students for life in college and beyond, but it would also be a breath of fresh air from every other class more heavily grounded in career-oriented skills such as math, science and English. If made more prominent, it would be both useful and enjoyable to a wider range of students than the more specified subjects, as it would be applicable to those going into careers as well as those choosing other lifestyles.