Blogs, People and Places: Editor's Picks
The best reflection of what you are thinking is your reading list. So to start with, here are two blogs related to self-directed learning, education, entrepreneurship and the like:
Blake Boles writes about self-directed learning extensively. His work solidified, and in some ways, validated my current journey. I have read excerpts of his book, “Better than College” and “The Art of Self-Directed Learning” — both are must-reads, albeit tailored to the American context. He runs a company for self-directed learners, has some wonderful videos & podcasts, and has provided such a wealth of perspective (not just information) through his body of work. I truly admire him for having the courage to provide so many free resources. In fact, one of his free online courses, The Way of Adventure, ”an advanced leadership course”, inspired me to create this list of resources/links. Highly recommend his monthly (free) email newsletter as well. Thanks Blake!
Following just a few recurrent themes in his work (such as having a digital trail, reaching out to people and working on things with consistency) will take you a long way!
Again, a great resource for self-directed learners. Along with their blog posts, the podcasts run by the co-founders of the company (Office Hours, Forward Tilt & Career Crashers) are incredible to listen to on your daily commute. I’ll be linking some of my favorite posts from the Praxis blog soon!
Some people I’d love to work with:
She’s a true hustler and is currently enrolled in Praxis. I love her minimalist aesthetic, writing, and commitment to her projects. Check out her thought-provoking YouTube videos on philosophy, this article which I found to be highly relatable, and a cool project she worked on. I discovered the Praxis Program through her blog, and she’s such an inspiration to me!
Dancer, writer and self-directed learner — exactly the kind of person I’d love to work with.
Places on my bucket list:
North Star Self-Directed Learning for Teens (Sunderland, MA)
Acton Academy (Placer County, CA)
A “micro-school” affiliated to IALDS (International Association of Learner Driven Schools)
Rise-Out & Laura Fokken (Boston, MA)
Note: We hope to compile a similar India-specific resource list like this soon.)
Wayfinding Academy (Portland, OR)
EdBridge (Gurugram, India)
A co-study space (go co-learning!) with interesting mentors and from the looks of it, a recent initiative of EdBrand, an “education consultancy”. Their design thinking workshop titled Design Your Life is similar to Lantern’s upcoming program. I’m glad that there are other platforms in India who share our vision!
Rishi Valley (Madanapalle, AP)
Sholai School (Kodaikanal, TN)
Isha Home School (Coimbatore, TN)
Events to check out:
Young Pros in SDE (July 26-28, NY)
A 2-day gathering of people involved in self-directed education. Organised by aforementioned Blake Boles!
Some quotable stuff:
So let’s say you want to be a software developer, and that you have chosen this career path.
Option 1) You can go to college, spend thousands of dollars, take a bunch of unrelated but required classes and four years later start building your portfolio and talking with potential employers.
Or.
Option 2) You can spend $100 on an online course tomorrow, network with and join a community of others who are learning the same skills, start working on actual projects and building your portfolio in a few months, and within a year or less (if you are really applying yourself) you could be talking with potential employers for entry level developer jobs. No student debt, no wasted time, more real world skills, years ahead of your peers.
It’s a no brainer.
If you are an option 2 kind of person, you’ve found the right place.
Use your time as your own. Sure, you have parents, perhaps soccer practice after class, and friends you want to see, but you have more time than you might think. If you don’t take school too seriously, you can come home with some energy and explore a topic or two of your choosing. Google is great for this and you can easily find a book or two that will pique your interest. Check out the ancient Egyptians, dinosaurs, how cottage cheese is made, or what’s going on in Ecuador. Keep your mind active, and it doesn’t all have to be productive. If you like Sudoku or rubix cubes, then those will do just fine. Put some time into reading, even if it’s not for direct learning. If you put in an hour or two each week, you’ll be leagues ahead. Watch TED Talks. Who knows what you might enjoy.
- Seventeen Wasted Years by Andrew Schneck
One of the chief lessons we’ve learned from this experience is the virtue of just getting things done – not waiting for the ideal creative moment, permission from authority, or the forces of history to move us along.
Vague and general questions get vague and general answers. If you want valuable input from others, create something first and then ask for feedback on it.
Isaac talks about the rough draft mindset–an approach to getting more valuable feedback from others by creating first and then reaching out for support.
Whether it is advice on something you are writing or a business idea, you will get better feedback if you ask for opinions on a rough draft instead of soliciting thoughts about an idea.
That’s all for this post!