Roadtrip Nation Launches Platform to Connect Community College Students to Careers

Finding out what you want to do in life can be challenging, but one nonprofit partnering with community colleges across the nation is making that easier. Roadtrip Nation recently announced a new resource to assist community college students to find their own career paths. The Roadtrip Nation Experience: Community College Edition utilizes project-based learning and storytelling that is available to students and educators within the community college setting. These resources are available via a new open-access platform the organization launched this week.

Roadtrip Nation’s Pilot Course Is Now Available Online

Earlier this year, the in-person Roadtrip Nation course ran from January through March, and took place in three locations. One was launched in conjunction with Project Self-Sufficiency in Newport Beach, CA, another nonprofit that helps single parents through education and training. The others took place at Linn Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon and Montgomery College in Takoma Park, Maryland. Using a five-lesson based video course, students learned critical professional, emotional, and social skills. They were introduced to professionals who told them how they landed their dream job.

Define your own road in life. pic.twitter.com/Zfw0UbhKtF

— Roadtrip Nation (@RoadtripNation) April 11, 2019

According to Roadtrip Nation, results of the pilot program showed there was a 36% increase of students who strongly agreed that they had goals after completing the program, a 20% increase in students who strongly agreed that the future appears brighter for themselves, and a 30% increase in students who agreed in that they know how to identify resources and steps they need to take to reach their goals.

Students who participate in the Roadtrip Nation’s online course will experience and learn of different ways to find their own path for their dream career, and their personal life fulfillment for themselves and their families.

What Does the Organization Do?

Known for their large green RVs and popular career exploration tactics, Roadtrip Nation takes students to find and explore possible careers choices that they are interested in by interviewing professionals in that career field and learning what led that professional to that career.

“One pivotal step can spark confidence in a future career. This is about delivering messages to students that they don’t often hear and showing them how to connect their interests to fulfilling future jobs,” said Mike Marriner, the president and co-founder of Roadtrip Nation, in a statement.

The course is available through the support of the Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) Foundation.

Roadtrip Nation is a nonprofit organization that made it their mission to assist students from diverse backgrounds find their passions that they can turn into a career. According to their 2018 Form 990 tax return (the latest available), the organization spent over $8 million that year putting on various events and campaigns to this end.

Using storytelling to inspire students, Roadtrip Nation’s award-winning television series has shown students how to find their best path with a job that fits them and their personal needs.

Their most recent documentary, One Single Mom’s Journey, focuses on three single mothers who want to change their and their children’s lives for the better. The documentary introduces the viewer to single mothers Gabby, Kiera, and Maliaq, along with what they hope to achieve in the future. Roadtrip Nation shows students different opportunities available to them, and challenges them to find an expert in a field that they are interested in, and interview them by video to find out what actions they took and obstacles that were experienced to get where they are in their careers.

Featured Image: Sylvia Zhou, Unsplash.