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But what about the really important stuff like finding an apartment, managing money or making it through a fancy dinner without looking like a fool?

Wilmington native Nicole Vickey and her husband, Jesse, have created a business to teach young adults these sorts of essential life skills as they venture out into the world.

Called Cap & Compass, the Vickeys' 2-year-old company gives quirky, humor-laced seminars at colleges, universities and conferences across the nation, and recently published a book on surviving life after school.

The Vickeys said when they graduated from college, they felt disoriented. They knew there were programs that taught job-related skills such as how to behave in the workplace.

But "there's all that 'life outside of work' stuff that other people don't cover," says Vickey, 25 and a Concord High School graduate. "I certainly had to learn this stuff through trial and error."

The Vickeys run the company out of their home in Branford, Conn., while Nicole Vickey finishes work on her master's degree at Yale University's environmental school in New Haven. Jesse works full time, Nicole works part time, and they also employ a seminar presenter, a comedian named Andy Ferguson.

Their 45-minute talks focus on serious topics such as tax forms, apartment leases and checking accounts. But their approach is lighthearted. Their tax seminar, for example, is called "The Least You Need to Know About Taxes." An overview begins: "Uncle Sam wants to rob you. Find out how!"

At a first-day-on-the-job seminar, Ferguson asks a couple of members of the audience to step forward so that he can show them why it's not a good idea to put down "0" on a W-4 form. He dresses one as Uncle Sam, with a top hat and beard. Another pretends to be "tax girl" or "tax boy."

"Everyone loves having their friends dress up and look like idiots," Ferguson says. "And we like that as well."

At another seminar, titled "Avoid Looking Stupid at Dinner," Ferguson uses Hi-C to show students how to order wine. He tells them to remember a slightly altered version of an old adage: see no evil (look at the bottle), smell no evil (sniff the cork) and taste no evil (take a sip).

Ferguson also weaves anecdotes into his seminars, often using a character named "Bert" to describe not-so-great experiences in the real world.

"For me, my own Bert story is looking for an apartment for six months in New York," says Ferguson, 25. "I had done no research as far as understanding price ... Either they were apartments I couldn't afford or they were apartments I could afford but wouldn't want to live in."

So far this year, Cap & Compass has given 65 seminars at 25 locations, including the University of Florida and Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Locally, the Vickeys have talked to officials at the University of Delaware and Goldey-Beacom College, but haven't yet been booked. A two-seminar package costs $1,400 with an educational discount.

Cap & Compass seems to have found a niche in the seminar market, says June Davidson, president of the California-based American Seminar Leaders Association. "I have not heard of anything specifically like that," she says.

The Vickeys have gotten lots of positive feedback. Stephanie Thomas, director of student activities for the University of Pittsburgh's Titusville campus, says students at her school liked the interactive nature of the presentations and felt they could relate to the young presenter.

"The kids enjoyed it," Thomas says. "They are anxious to have them back."

The Vickeys, meanwhile, are eager to grow. Next year, they hope to hire someone to give seminars in the western part of the country. Nicole Vickey figures the need for "Life 101" courses will continue for years to come.

"This is a way to save people a lot of hassle," she says. "It's just a matter of not having everyone reinvent the wheel."
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