Spring 2024 Decal Application
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1agk_97JWM4w-O2wnFMRbM-uUnJhNjvsuI1KtpTJdslE/viewform?edit_requested=true
https://decal.berkeley.edu/courses/7412
The journey to becoming an adult is a rewarding yet difficult process, full of personal growth and development that can be hard to navigate alone. That’s where we come in. Welcome to the Adulting DeCal, an internationally recognized class centered around teaching you those critical life skills you might not have learned in school, like personal finance, relationships, mental health, nutrition and much more! Each week we’ll tackle a new Adulting topic together, with the help of expert guest speakers of course, where you’ll learn and reflect in an open and collaborative classroom environment. Find community, learn from the best and build those Adulting skills in a fun, low-stress atmosphere. We’d love to be a part of your individual Adulting journey, so spend the semester with us and learn lessons that will help you the rest of your life. Learn how to Adult today!
due Saturday, January 27th at 11:59pm. We will be selecting students based on the application responses and will send you an email the week of January 28th with decision results
Applications are very competitive, so please put some time into your responses.
personal finance, relationships, mental health, and nutrition
expert guest speakers with a fun low-stress atmosphere
Why do you want to take this Decal and what do you hope to get out of it?
As I enter my last year of college, getting ready to head out into the real world, I still can’t call myself an adult. I feel like an old teenager.
I immigrated to the US with my family when I was 13 from Nepal. Being a first-generation student with non-native English-speaking parents, I became resourceful. I had to figure out a lot of things on my own such as figuring out what the SAT is, what AP classes are, and how to write good essays for university applications. I sought help from my teachers and my classmates to learn both about the American education system and its culture. If they didn’t know, I researched the internet and read books to find the answer myself.
However, there are still many things about being an adult I still do not know. I don’t know how to create new relationships or friendships after high school. I don’t know how to create healthy boundaries with friends or family. I want to have more clarity and confidence in my life. I want to be the role model I never had but I wish I did. I can teach my 12-year-old brother how to be a good student, but right now, I can’t teach him how to be a good human being.
It was normal for me to ask for help regarding college applications. However, I can’t say the same about adulting. If I ask a question on how to be an adult, I will raise a lot of eyebrows and questions from others. Aside from the course material, the biggest thing I love is the safe space. I want to be able to fully express my ignorance about adulting so I can properly learn how to be an adult. I also want to share my story growing up as an immigrant and form a support group with other students on the same adulting journey.
Even though becoming an adult is complicated and painful, I still want to try my best at it.
Describe a time when you thought that you lacked a certain "adulting" skill. How did it make you feel? Did you get any help?
It was the first night of RRR week in Fall 2023. My Japanese friend hosted a cheese-themed potluck at the International House to relax before finals. After getting there, I couldn’t socialize at all. If I tried talking to someone, my body just froze as I refused to take another step. I tried to say hi or ask a question, but my mouth was sealed shut. I kept overthinking about what others were thinking about me which made my anxiety worse. I started screaming internally “shit, shit, shit!”. I tried walking around to avoid suspicion but I still couldn’t get myself to talk. My body started heating up and my breathing became heavy so I had to leave immediately. I felt extremely embarrassed and frustrated. Everybody seemed to be getting along in their conversations except for me. I felt like I failed as a human being for being unable to start a conversation with strangers.
This wasn’t the first time it happened but it was my most recent. I stopped going to social events for a while to avoid meeting new people. However, I did start going to therapy and doing some journaling. A large turning point was the realization that my thoughts were the root cause of almost all my social issues. Some of the most helpful things were reducing the negative self-talk and rationalizing my social fears. My anxiety is more relaxed now but I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I plan on being more involved by working as a staff member in the Nikkei Student Union. I want to create more social events to allow lonely students like myself the opportunity to make new friends. Taking this Decal course is also part of this journey because I still do not know a lot of things about relationships and mental health. I want to learn how to create healthy relationships with others alongside creating healthy boundaries to avoid toxic or abusive relationships.
Despite my past and ongoing struggles with social anxiety, I am still hopeful that one day, I can learn to live without worrying about other people’s opinions all the time.
Why do you want to take this Decal and what do you hope to get out of it?
As an immigrant and a first-generation student, I lack a lot of adulting skills. I couldn't rely on my parents because we came from a developing country and English wasn't their first language. My struggles with autism and social anxiety made my situation even worse because it made it harder for me to seek help, especially in areas where everyone else seemed to have experience except for me. Despite that, I still want to learn adulting skills because I don't want my little brother to end up suffering like I did.
For me, the main focus will be on the social aspect. I want to learn how to properly start and maintain good friendships and relationships. Common sense isn't common to me which is why I want to start getting bettter at it.
I also want to learn how to break down mental health stigma within myself alongside learning to be resilient especially when parents and relatives try to stop me from getting help.
Describe a time when you thought that you lacked a certain "adulting" skill. How did it make you feel? Did you get any help?
For me, that skill was learning to make connections past high school. In high school, it was easier because the people next to me would start talking and this would lead to the start of our friendships. After high school, I have to be more proactive in finding new connections. That is something I struggle with. A lot of the times, I didn't even feel like a human being. I felt like an alien who didn't understand proper social norms and couldn't properly communicate with others.
I did start going to therapy in secret. I also started reading a lot of self-help books on making good friends and relationships. Even though my social anxiety flares up in social situations, I still try to improve my social skills. Even now, I still have a lot to learn and I cannot confidently say that my social skills are on par with everyone else.
