Union students often graduate lacking practical skills needed for life after college. Kayla McKinney, residence director of the Female Quads, and Erin Slater, residence director of Heritage Residence Complex, collaborated to develop a new event called Life 101.
“Many of our events are focused on free food and activities,” McKinney said. “We realized we wanted to create an event that was more purposeful.”
Life 101 will take place September 9 and November 18 at 8 p.m., either in the Bowld Student Commons or in McAfee. These events are campus-wide but are exclusive to women for now. While Residence Life may expand to include topics for men in the future, official plans have not yet been made.
“Sometimes we will have a hands-on activity to learn a new skill together,” McKinney said. “Other times we will have a Q&A panel or a speaker, depending on the topic.”
Life 101 speakers will include Slater, McKinney, community members, professionals from various careers and Union faculty.
“Our hope is that students find this event valuable and really enjoy what we discuss,” McKinney said. “We would love for it to become a tradition, but definitely want to listen to students’ feedback as we try this out.”
Car maintenance, eating healthy on a budget, handling conflict, women’s health and maximizing wardrobes are some of the topics that will be discussed.
McKinney encourages residents to suggest topics that they want to learn about to their RAs. “We want to serve you and create a meaningful event, so we welcome ideas!”
