The School of Living · everyday skills for a whole life
Civic Life & Adulting
Leases, paychecks, ballots, and bureaucracy — the operating instructions nobody hands you at eighteen.
Read the lease before signing, document the walk-through, and know which repairs are legally theirs.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~8 hours
Unit I — Before You Sign
Reading a lease clause by clause: term, rent, fees, guests, pets · Application costs, deposits, and what is refundable · Touring with a checklist and a camera
Unit II — Living There
The move-in walk-through, documented in writing · Habitability: repairs the landlord owes you · Requesting repairs in writing, and escalation paths · Renters insurance: cheap and worth it
Unit III — Leaving Well
Notice periods and lease-end options · The deposit fight: normal wear versus damage · Small claims court as a last resort
Decode a pay stub, fill the onboarding forms with intent, and choose benefits like the money they are.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~8 hours
Unit I — The Paycheck
Gross to net: every deduction explained · Hourly, salaried, exempt, and overtime · W-4 and I-9: what you are signing on day one
Unit II — Benefits Are Money
Health plan choices during open enrollment · Retirement match: taking all of it, always · PTO, sick leave, and how accrual works
Unit III — Rights and Exits
Minimum wage, breaks, and pay transparency basics · Harassment and discrimination: documentation and channels · Quitting well: notice, references, and the exit checklist
City, county, state, federal — who does what, where your taxes go, and how to get a pothole actually fixed.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~10 hours
Unit I — The Layers
City, county, state, federal: who owns which problem · Where property, sales, and income taxes actually go · Special districts: schools, water, transit
Unit II — Getting Things Done
311 and service requests that get answered · Permits: when you need one and how to get it · Public records and open-records requests · Writing to an official so a staffer reads it
Unit III — The Citizen's Appearances
Jury duty: what actually happens · Small claims court, step by step · Public comment at a local meeting: three minutes, well used
Register, stay registered, research the whole ballot — judges and measures included — and cast it correctly.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~6 hours
Unit I — Registration
Registering and confirming you are still registered · Deadlines, moves, and name changes · Primaries: open, closed, and what your state does
Unit II — The Whole Ballot
Below the top line: judges, sheriffs, school boards · Ballot measures: reading past the title · Sample ballots and nonpartisan research sources
Unit III — Casting It
Mail, early, and day-of voting mechanics · What to bring and what to do if challenged · After the vote: results, recounts, and staying engaged between elections
Which documents to keep, where to keep them, and the calendar of renewals and deadlines adult life runs on.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~8 hours
Unit I — The Documents
Vital records: birth certificate, Social Security card, passport · Titles, deeds, diplomas, and insurance policies · What to keep as paper, what to scan, what to shred
Unit II — The Calendar
Licenses, registrations, and inspections on renewal cycles · Tax dates beyond April · Insurance renewals: the annual re-shop
Unit III — The System
A one-box filing system that survives busy years · Passwords and account lists for your future self · Beneficiaries, a basic will, and the folder someone can find · The annual paperwork hour: once a year, everything current