The Center for Work and Life recently kicked off its newest series of workshops titled “How to be an Adult.”  The series includes the workshops “How to be a Smith Alumna,” “How to Change a Tire and Look Cool Doing It,” “Telling the Truth about Money,” “Cooking Healthy Meals on a Budget,” “Your First Apartment” and “I Just Want to be With You,” about personal relationships and decision-making.

Jessica Bacal, the director of the center, discussed how the series came about.  

“The CWL helps students develop the skills they need to thrive at college and beyond.  I think some of the most important skills are skills in self-advocacy, but also concrete skills… doing something that feels challenging,” she said. “The ‘How to be an Adult’ series is a response to students’ interests in learning the skills they need to gain a sense of confidence about handling real life after they leave Smith.”

Bacal typically approaches alumnae and people she knows at or through Smith to get volunteer hosts for different workshops.  

Nerissa and Katryna Nields, authors of How to be an Adult, hosted the first workshop.  Nerissa Nields said, “I wanted to write about the skills that help one navigate life, like figuring out vocation, time management and resistance, dating, marriage and self care.  For me, figuring out money and how to keep track of it were some of the hardest parts of becoming an adult.”

She also gave advice to students who will soon transition out of college: “Know thyself.  You really need to know yourself in order to know what you want, which direction to go, what your destiny might be.”

Ally Einbinder ’10, a program assistant at the CWL, will be running “How to be a Smith Alumna.”

“I basically break my workshop down into three parts,” she said.  “I tell students what they can be doing right now in terms of alumnae networking, what they can be doing right after they graduate and also in the long run. I talk about the alumnae association, as well as getting letters of recommendation and the alumnae scholarship, which is offered through the dean’s office.  I try to cover different topics that people might not be aware of.”

Einbinder was inspired to lead the workshop by an experience she had after graduation.  When she moved back to Northampton, Einbinder was looking for car insurance and received an e-mail from the alumnae association that included insurance discounts.  

“It ended up saving me a lot of money and inspiring me to start the workshop about the benefits of being an alum,” she said.    

Hannah Cohen and Rachel Pryzby ’09 will be running “Cooking Healthy Meals on a Budget.” During her senior year at Smith, Pryzby interned at the Wellness Office with Emily Nagoski and developed a cookbook of Smith and non-Smith recipes with another intern, Caitlin Gleason ’09.  When the idea for a healthy cooking workshop came up, Nagoski recommended that Pryzby get involved.

“I feel strongly that cooking can be empowering and therapeutic, but everyone has to start somewhere,” said Nagoski. “I definitely struggled with making the transition to being largely responsible for cooking for myself after college.  My strategy?  Spend Sunday preparing a week’s worth of food and enjoy tasty leftovers all week.”

Hannah Cohen was raised eating healthy, home-cooked meals but “didn’t consider how much my diet varied from what has become the traditional American diet until returning from my junior year abroad in Italy.”

“Many young adults were never instructed how to cook, and they are given very little incentive,” she said. “Eating a balanced diet is difficult for young adults because you have to adjust to living, shopping and cooking for yourself and then learning what to do with the leftovers before they go bad.”

However, she noted the benefits to acquiring this skill.

“Learning how to cook will create spending money,” Cohen said. “Never fear the kitchen, and enjoy the learning process that will lead to a stockpile of go-to recipes and happiness. To the undergrads,  enjoy not having to do the dishes while you can!”