It was May of 1999, I had just graduated with my bachelor’s degree. I sat across from my mom at Applebee’s celebrating this milestone. She slid a pile of papers across the table and said, “These are now yours.”  I took them and continued lunching.  When I arrived back to my apartment I realized I had no idea how to “do” any of this.  What exactly was life insurance?  How did car insurance actually work?  I was a first-generation college student. My parents were successful farmers and had worked very hard so that my brother and I could go to college.  My parents always said that education is the best investment a person could make.

They didn’t really know how to help me through a job search, how to negotiate a contract, or what type of health insurance to choose.  I remember those early days - feeling lost, like I wouldn’t make the right choice; but I forged forward.  Eventually, I ended up back in school getting my master’s degree.  Then, began teaching adjunct at a local university.  Soon, I found myself teaching full-time and in the position as an internship coordinator.  I had great relationships with students and found myself asking them, “How did it go?  Leaving here?  Did you feel prepared?”  The answer, over and over, was - sort of.  While prepared to do the work of a communication and media professional, they were unprepared for life. I was honored that they shared this with me.

Soon, I went to my department head and asked if I could revamp the curriculum that accompanied the internship program.  It had been very theoretically based - how does your workplace align with McGregor’s X and Y? As I read student papers, they felt empty.  Students were in their last semester of college and the last thing on their minds was more theory.  So, I started replacing assignments.  First, it was working with career services to offer workshops on the job search.  Then, I asked our financial aid folks if they could meet with students for an exit interview so they better understand the loan repayment process.  I kept asking our alumni what they wish they know.  Soon, I was working with our human resources director to offer a workshop on benefits.  Students responded with great positivity and the program continued to grow.

I began teaching our department’s capstone courses and I struggled to get the type of student engagement I was used to.  Students that I had earlier in their academic career who were good students all of a sudden had attendance issues, they weren’t turning work in on time (or at all), they seemed tired, overwhelmed and stressed.  I began to wonder - how much of this is related to the transition that is coming and the overwhelming nature of it all?

Then, my own children became emerging adults and I realized how much we had failed to teach them.  Two parents; as college graduates, as industry professionals, we failed our children.  That’s when it hit me, students are simply not getting this material. I knew, as a communication scholar, that information usually decreases anxiety and KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. So, I fully developed the program.  I began a doctoral program and focused all of my research in the exit processes of college students.  I discovered what I thought was true - students are overwhelmed which causes even the best of students to become paralyzed in their academic prowess at the end of their academic career.  I also discovered that, overwhelmingly, students wanted a program like this.

A combination of 20 years of teaching students this age, my initial gut feeling, doctoral research, and watching my own children struggle through emerging adulthood has resulted in this effort. The Next Step program can be used in nearly every environment to help and encourage young people into adulthood with a calm mind, open heart, and knowledge to advocate for themselves.

Nikki Harken, EdD, MA, BA

Owner, Next Step Consulting