The number one thing we hear from entrepreneurs and artists and creatives when we ask them about their education is about how irrelevant it was to their story. Sure, some folks had wonderful educational experiences, but for many their experiences left them feeling ill prepared for life and their careers. So, we wanted to create a space for folks to share their experiences and ideas for how we can improve our educational system.

Tyler Thigpen

The people working in schools today are awesome. They love kids and make sacrifices to help young people. The design of the system in which they teach, however, is not awesome. The current education system is largely designed around fostering dependency, which can stifle students’ growth into self-directed, empowered individuals. From rigid schedules to adult-created rules, mandated curricula, and singular-answer assessments, students are conditioned to follow rather than lead. This model mirrors the industrial-age approach that emphasizes conformity, uniformity, and compliance over creativity, autonomy, and critical thinking. Read more>>

Leslye Rivera

The education system needs to provide more opportunities for self-discovery and self-expression. Success begins with understanding oneself—knowing one’s talents, abilities, thought processes, feelings, and emotions, and how they relate to the world. One effective way to explore self-knowledge is through art. Read more>>

Valari Westeren

I was homeschooled all the way up through eleventh grade, took community college classes in twelfth grade, went to a private university for a four-year English degree, and just this past summer graduated from a three-year conservatory that teaches writing, business, and marketing skills. So I’ve experienced a wide range of different approaches to education, and reflecting back on all of it, I find it surprising that the most practical life skills I was taught in a classroom all came from the conservatory–after high school and traditional college. Read more>>