Beyond the textbook
Universities are increasingly offering innovative courses that focus on practical life skills, helping students prepare for the real world beyond academics.
In a university classroom, 27-year-old teacher Fu Yiqiang, dressed in a suit and apron, cooked for his students using an electric frying pan.
This wasn't a cooking class but an elective course titled "Guide to Adult Life" at the Communication University of China, Nanjing (CUCN), in Jiangsu province, which Fu began teaching in the second semester of 2024.
Fu, a 2018 graduate of CUCN, started his career as an e-sports commentator. His success in the field earned him an invitation to return to the university in 2019 to teach e-sports commentary courses.
However, Fu soon noticed a challenge many college students face outside their academic work.
"Throughout our schooling, we were always told to focus on studying, but few taught us how to live," Fu said. "After graduation, we're suddenly expected to navigate the real world on our own, yet there's so much we don't know."
This realization inspired him to create the Guide to Adult Life course.
