Adulting 101: the classes teaching students how to be grown-ups

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• 00:07

  Hello, it's Alice Su here.

• 00:12

  I'm the co-host of Drum Tower, our weekly podcast on China.

• 00:15

  You're about to hear an article from the latest edition of The Economist.

• 00:19

  Enjoy.

• 00:32

  The teacher starts with the basics, how to thread a needle.

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  Then, over the course of the next 30 minutes,

• 00:39

  she shows the students a few different stitches,

• 00:42

  along with how to mend a torn shirt and beautify a frayed hem.

• 00:47

  This is not a lesson at some fusty finishing school.

• 00:51

  The sewing class is part of a free one-day course at Austin Community College,

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  or ACC, called Adulting 101.

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  the students range in age from their late teens to mid-forties.

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  ACC has been running such programs for six years.

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  The workshops are designed to help people successfully navigate adulthood,

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  even those who legally and practically have been navigating it for quite some time.

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  The topics run the gamut from basic, how to dress appropriately for a job interview,

• 01:26

  to advanced, such as how to file income taxes.

• 01:29

  That subject will surely be top of mind for Americans as their tax filings are due on April 15th.

• 01:37

  In this way, institutions are helping people grow up.

• 01:41

  Across the country, community colleges, public libraries,

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