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adulthood

Education

8 classes that should be required for all students before they hit adulthood

If we want to prepare kids for adult life, we've got some glaring gaps to fill.

Photo by Sam Balye on Unsplash

Why aren't we teaching students the things they really need to know as adults?

I remember sitting in advanced algebra and trigonometry class in high school wondering if I was really ever going to use any of what I was learning. Math at that level meant nothing to me in a practical sense. I planned to study English and education to become an English teacher, so I couldn't imagine why I'd need to learn the ins and outs of trig.

As it turned out, some of what I learned came in handy in the functions class I was required to take to fulfill my math requirement in college. But again, I found myself sitting in class with zero idea of why I was learning this level of math and suspecting that I was never going to actually use that knowledge in my adult life.

Now I'm a middle-aged adult and I can say with absolute certainty that I was right. In 27 years, I have not used anything I learned in functions. Not once. Not even a little bit. I agonized my way through that class to eek out a B-minus and to promptly forget everything I'd learned because it was utterly useless to me.

To be clear, higher math isn't useless—it's amazing. It was just completely useless to me.

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life skills

Pop Culture

People are sharing the adult problems that 'nobody prepared you for' and they're so true

Here are 21 of the most relatable.

via PixaBay

Being an adult is tough.

Nothing can ever fully prepare you for being an adult. Once you leave childhood behind, the responsibilities, let-downs and setbacks come at you fast. It’s tiring and expensive, and there's no easy-to-follow roadmap for happiness and success.

A Reddit user named u/Frequent-Pilot5243 asked the online forum, “What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for?” and there were a lot of profound answers that get to the heart of the disappointing side of being an adult.

One theme that ran through many responses is the feeling of being set adrift. When you’re a kid, the world is laid out as a series of accomplishments. You learn to walk, you figure out how to use the bathroom, you start school, you finish school, maybe you go to college, and so on.

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adulthood

Family

9 photos that document 7 years of mental illness in a really powerful way.

Melissa Spitz's mother was institutionalized for the first time when Melissa was 6 years old.

Back then, Mrs. Spitz had just been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and as the years went by, her mental health continued to decline. She worked her way through a hysterectomy and cancer treatment, which led to alcohol abuse, a prescription pill problem, and, eventually, a divorce from Spitz's father.

"I was actually extremely fortunate and started seeing a therapist when I was 13. It was initially to deal with my mother’s recent cancer diagnosis, but naturally a lot came up," Spitz said. "As a kid it was chaos and nothing made sense. I empathize with her a lot more, but I really feel as if I am still putting all the pieces back together."

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Sarah Thorne knew her dad had only wanted one thing for the past eight years: a pair of light-up sneakers.

You know, the kind that blink every time you take a step? You may remember them from the hallways of your elementary school.

GIF from Famous Footwear

The only thing stopping her dad from getting a pair of his own was his assumption that light-up shoes were designed exclusively for kids.

So when Thorne found a pair of adult-sized light up sneakers, she had the camera rolling to capture her dad's reaction when he opened them on his birthday.

GIFs via Storyful/YouTube.

After a brief moment of confusion, he squeezed the heel and those bad boys lit right up and...

...her dad leapt out of his seat with surprise and delight.

When's the last time you felt this level of pure, childlike happiness?

Most of us are barely out of high school when the world starts slapping us in the face with adultness. Our favorite childhood foods start to taste bland, our favorite bands from fifth grade sound like whiney strangers with guitars, the shows and movies we once found inspiring start to lose their shine in the hindsight of adulthood and real life experiences.

We have to deal with things like paying taxes, and getting jobs, and being adults who have bills and responsibilities. We have to deal with "the Mondays" and people who say "the Mondays."

In short, sometimes it can feel like adulthood means smiling less; we start to take little joys for granted.

Moments like the one Sarah Thorne captured with her dad are proof that pure joy has no age.

You're never too old to be delighted by something small and silly. In fact, those small, silly things can sometimes be the most important — because they can brighten your day when you need it most.

Plus, light-up sneakers are awesome. Always.

Watch the full video here:

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This former child actor's Instagram post about growing up is on point.

Dylan Sprouse is teaching us all a thing or two about growing up.

\n\nIf you were a child of the '90s, the Sprouse twins might be pretty familiar faces.

Now, Dylan and Cole Sprouse are all grown up. As proud alumni of New York University, the twins have gone their separate ways, with Cole pursuing other acting endeavors, and Dylan doing, well, whatever he wants for the time being.

But Dylan says he gets asked what he's doing all the time, to the point of exhaustion. And this week, he took to Instagram to address the question.

Sprouse called out the hypocrisy of a society that expects him to keep up a career he indulged in as a child.

He also called out that it's OK to be doing nothing and to work on figuring out what his next steps might be.

"I'm enjoying myself by relaxing, traveling, consuming media, and continuing to learn" but the truth is is that unless I'm doing something bigger and better than what I've previously done, people deem it regressive."

It’s no secret that many child stars struggle to transition into adulthood. Drugs, alcohol, and unemployment tend to find even the most successful of child stars, ultimately setting the stage for a less than desirable adulthood.

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The pressures of Hollywood can be daunting, and for a kid working in the industry since they were practically in diapers, it makes a lot of sense that they may want to take their time in deciding what's next. The Sprouse twins have emerged pretty smoothly, though, and that's impressive.

Plus, these guys are only 23 years old! The same age that Tina Fey was working at a YMCA. The age that Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche had recently finished writing her first play and was getting ready to pursue other projects. The age when Oprah was fired from her first journalism job. The age that Ralph Lauren was still serving in the army.

Whether you're a recent college graduate or a former child star, you don't always know what you want, and that's totally normal! As Dylan admits in his post, while Cole is pursuing acting, that may not be what he wants to stick with — a concept that's totally OK in your 20s.

So Dylan, as a former 10-year-old fan of your hilarious show, I have three words for you: You do you.

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Entering adulthood isn't always easy.

From work to personal relationships, a lot of things can change as you jump into "the real world." Artist Caitlin Quijano gets that, so she combined art and humor to create images that other young adults could relate to.

"As a 20-something figuring out work, marriage, and finances, the demands and challenges of adulthood are something I think about a lot," Quijano told Upworthy in an email. "I've always loved to de-stress through comedy, and that is reflected in the topics I cover."

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adulthood

If we want to prepare kids for adult life, we've got some glaring gaps to fill.

Basic Psychology/Mental Health Maintenance

Basic Sociology/Human Behavior

Media Literacy

The Stock Market and Other Investments

How Banking, Credit and Credit Cards Work

Taxes

First Aid/Safety/Self-Defense

Navigating our Healthcare and Health Insurance System

Here are 21 of the most relatable.

1. Lack of purpose

2. No bed time

3. Friendships

4. Bodily changes

5. People don't change

6. Money

7. Our parents age, too

8. Free time

9. No goals

10. Constant upkeep

11. Exhaustion

12. Loneliness

13. Dinner

14. Time changes

15. You're responsibile, even if you didn't mean it

16. Work is like high school

17. Nowhere to turn

18. The happiness question

19. Constant cleaning

20. Life costs money

21. Keeping above water

Melissa Spitz's mother was institutionalized for the first time when Melissa was 6 years old.

After her parents' divorce, Spitz turned to photography as a coping mechanism. But it wasn't until she got to art school that she turned the lens on her own mother.

True to her mother's bipolar diagnosis, the resulting photo series, "You Have Nothing to Worry About," depicts a life of stark binary contrasts.

"It can be exhausting, but it is extremely cathartic," Spitz said. "I really believe every image is just as much an image of me as it is of her."

Spitz eventually uploaded her photos to Instagram and found that the framed and fractured feel of the feed actually enhanced the experience of viewing the photos.

Instagram has also helped her vivid images to reach a wider audience — many of whom deal with similar problems.

Spitz has captured countless moments of bleak, honest beauty on camera. But she's seen her share of frights as well.

For all her struggles, her mother is moved by the power of her daughter's work — and she hopes that it can help other people, too.

Spitz's relationship with her mother is just one story of life with mental illness. But her willingness to share that hard story with the world is really important.

Sarah Thorne knew her dad had only wanted one thing for the past eight years: a pair of light-up sneakers.

So when Thorne found a pair of adult-sized light up sneakers, she had the camera rolling to capture her dad's reaction when he opened them on his birthday.

When's the last time you felt this level of pure, childlike happiness?

Moments like the one Sarah Thorne captured with her dad are proof that pure joy has no age.

Watch the full video here:

More young people than ever are living with their families. But does that make them less independent?

For about four months last year, I needed to live with my family.

Don't get me wrong — I love my family. But the whole experience kind of messed with my head.

I felt like living on my own was independent, and living with my family was not. But the truth is that it's not a yes or no thing at all.

Most young people can be roughly split into four different, nearly evenly split groups of independence.

What does this tell us? In real life, people's relationships with their families are a lot more nuanced than just "independent" or "dependent."

As today's millennials come into adulthood, their independence is likely to fall onto more of a spectrum than in years past.

Today, I have my own place again. But now I'll think differently about what it means to be independent.

Dylan Sprouse is teaching us all a thing or two about growing up.

\n\nIf you were a child of the '90s, the Sprouse twins might be pretty familiar faces.

But Dylan says he gets asked what he's doing all the time, to the point of exhaustion. And this week, he took to Instagram to address the question.

He also called out that it's OK to be doing nothing and to work on figuring out what his next steps might be.

So Dylan, as a former 10-year-old fan of your hilarious show, I have three words for you: You do you.

Entering adulthood isn't always easy.

1. Camping equipment evolves from childhood to adulthood.

2. Time spent hanging out with friends might become ... er ... limited.

3. The reality of work life may be a bit different from what you imagined in college.

4. But with each new venture, you'll probably begin by giving it your all.

5. Ultimately, your finish line may look a little different from those around you, and that's totally fine. It's your life to live. Make it a good one.