From a young age, I always had a passion for food and its preparation. I obsessed over the Food Network and would help my grandparents or my mom in the kitchen at every opportunity that presented itself. By the time I was in middle school, I could prepare several different kinds of meals (without parental supervision) and by high school I would pretty much cook anything as long as I had the ingredients and a good recipe. Imagine my surprise, then, when I got to college and very few of my friends knew how to boil an egg, let alone prepare an entire meal.

I found it shocking that hardly anyone I knew had even the most basic of cooking skills, because being able to feed yourself is such a fundamental need. It's pretty much number one on the survival of life list in my opinion, because who can survive without food? So do yourself a favor and, if you don't know how to cook, make that your personal goal for 2016. I'm not talking about Ramen or mac 'n' cheese, but actual food that doesn't come out of a box.

Not only is cooking your own meals good for your wallet (eating take out and at restaurants is crazy EXPENSIVE) but it is also good for your health. When you prepare your meals you know and can control exactly what goes in and what doesn't. Restaurant meals are notorious for being super high in calories, and pretty low in nutritional value. While most restaurants now have some sort of "lighter" menu, these items are generally a) more expensive than the rest of the menu and b) way less appetizing than the picture of the cheeseburger and fries on the front cover of the menu.

I get the sense that my friends who don't know how to cook are intimidated by the kitchen, they don't know where to start so they don't start at all. Cooking to me, is almost like art. It isn't exactly a science, and the best way to learn is to start experimenting. When I was young, I would just mess around with different ingredients and recipes which weren't always successful but I always learned something in the process.

There will be failures and successes, but you will always have fun and most likely learn a thing or two about cooking the meals you will inevitably be forced to make eventually when you're out in the real world. Cooking isn't just an investment in the present but an investment in what can be your best future.