S.T.E.P. Up Program
Mission and vision
Entering the MLS and nursing programs represents enormous changes that you have chosen to undertake, because it means not only have you left behind high school to become UMassD students, but you have also raised your hand to become healers in world that, right now, very much needs healing. All change, at least all meaningful change, begins with identity—who am I and what are my values? Therefore, our first-year S.T.E.P. Up events are grounded in the College's core values and we keep these values front and center as we engage students in forming a vision for themselves of who they are and why they are here. Our hope is that these events help to provide our students with an important piece of the foundation that they need to become not only who they want to be for themselves but also the healers that the wider world needs them to be.
Central questions for students throughout the S.T.E.P. Up events: Who do you want to be at the end of this semester/year that you aren’t now? How do you want to be heard? What do you want others in CNHS to hear? To know about you? By giving students the space and occasion to ask these important questions, we aim to help students to begin to connect with a significant purpose that will orient them towards a more robust—and sustainable--conception of professional identity.