YSN

RAND and YSN

Wed, 07 Mar 2018 22:32:52 +0000

On February 15, 2018, RAND and YSN teamed up to host a dynamic conversation about how well (or not!) today’s youth are being prepared for the modern workforce. At the center of this discussion were administrators from local community colleges, Cal State universities, and Pepperdine University. The brainstorming session focused on identifying the biggest issues, concerns, and challenges that surround delivering workforce readiness programming in higher education institutions.

This conversation was the kick-off for a new Rand/YSN collaboration that combines YSN’s adaptive tools for youth career planning and global youth experience with Rand’s analysis expertise and policy orientation, with a goal of building an evidence-based guide to youth workforce readiness.

The session was held at RAND in Santa Monica. It was moderated by:

Krishna B. Kumar
RAND Senior Economist & Director of the Labor and Population Unit
Distinguished Chair in International Economic Policy
Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Darlene Opfer
Director, RAND Education
Distinguished Chair in Education Policy
Former Director of Research University of Cambridge

Jennifer Kushell
CEO & Founder, YSN
Creator of Exploring Your Potential
NY Times Bestselling Author, Secrets of the Young & Successful

In a room filled with forward-thinking, dedicated career professionals—as well as business leaders who have returned to academia—the casual, intimate discussion touched on what is and isn’t happening in terms of the education-workforce pipeline, and what factors come most into play.

Today’s student populations.

California universities talked a lot about the diversity of their populations, the large numbers of first-generation students, and also of some of the challenges they face coming from underserved and low-income communities and families.
At CSULA, 80% of their students are first generation and 60% are Latino.
The anxiety that students face, overall, is incredible.

Family involvement.

Affluent families are often over-involved in guiding their children into particular majors and professions, with a focus on starting salary and benefits. This makes it harder for students to choose their own path and complicates how “coachable” students are by the university counselors who are trying to help them navigate their options.
Less economically secure families tend to be far less involved in the student’s education and career choices. In addition, students from these families usually have much higher levels of responsibility as they often help support their families while in school, juggling work or a family business while trying to complete their education.
Lower income students tend to expect less support on campus—but when they are engaged, school counselors can often guide them much more effectively as they have less family pressure toward a certain career.
Today’s college students will change careers about twelve times in their lifetime, but most of them are not ready to hear this or understand what today’s world of work is like because—especially with first generation students—all they can think about is the urgency of getting a degree and getting a job to support their families.

Demand for traditional jobs is shrinking.

“The Workforce of the future, it is changing,” warned Krishna Kumar, Director of Labor and Population at RAND. “One of the more famous surveys that was done on the RAND American Life Panel…over the past dozen or so years, finds that there is a huge increase just in the last ten years of people who do contract work.” Clearly this is a huge trend among students and recent graduates. More and more they’re looking for flexible work vs. more traditional positions with established firms. “How can the education sector change in response to the labor market?”
Darlene Opfer, who directs Education at RAND added, “we’ve done a number of studies in different regions of the country…looking at where the jobs are and in what fields, then looking at what kinds of programs are being offered. And we regularly see that the programs are not matching the jobs. How do we get institutions to respond and open up to new programs when there’s clearly a labor market need?”

The pace of change makes it almost impossible to keep up.

The pace of change of the workforce itself is a big issue. It used to take generations for changes in technology to impact what jobs are needed; now it takes years. This makes it harder for schools to teach what is needed. Sloan Trugman, a consultant to YSN, said, “There’s a big gap between the institution and employers and unfortunately students suffer [the most].”
Bob Sheridan who heads Career Education/Professional Development at the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics at CSUN pointed out that most of his students take six years to graduate because they are also working to support their families. With today’s rate of change in the workforce, no one—including VPs at IBM, whom Sheridan visited with this question—can see six years into the future to know what skills or tech will be needed, particularly with STEM. So there is no way for schools or teachers to know what to teach.
Sheridan’s solution to this is to focus on teaching how to learn rather than on specific skills. His course called Themes and Structures of Lifelong Learning covers critical thinking, persuasion, execution, situational analysis, cultural and global awareness, and—most importantly—technical and scientific conversations.
Kumar added, “If we can figure out what it is that individuals are going to need 5, 10, years from now, even if it’s opaque….10 years ago we didn’t have our iPhones, but we now use that piece of technology to manipulate information. So, we don’t know what the next iPhone is, but we know you need to be able to manipulate information. See where it fits. How data interacts with one another. That is probably doing to be one of the more transferable skills – sort of like the conceptual underpinning.

Students don’t understand today’s work world—and many administrators are struggling to keep up, too.

Kushell’s work at YSN has brought her around the world, working with tens of thousands of students as they struggle with their own personal identification and career exploration.
Globally, she sees a lack of engagement with on-campus career resources as students don’t see what’s being taught as relevant to their lives and interests. Career readiness in college often focuses on resumes or on programs that encourage students to connect directly with employers, when the real issue is that students don’t know who they are, what skills they have, or how those skills translate into jobs.
Because of this, students struggle with or resist standard career center programming. YSN’s work addresses this specifically, with one of their goals being to reframe the conversation about work with young people. YSN’s flagship program, Exploring Your Potential (EYP), addresses students’ hopes, aspirations and challenges to help them craft career plans that make sense and get them excited, letting them take ownership and control of their own workforce path. Schools that have used EYP, such as Cal Poly and Cal State Bakersfield, are seeing 70-80% increases in confidence, clarity, focus, and direction across the board.
Students also have little fluency about today’s new world of work, such as entrepreneurial options, the alternative economy, growth industries, global opportunities, how organizations are structured and thus what types of positions are available, and even how to get out and meet people in the field and present themselves as capable talent. Also profound is the fear and anxiety about what’s next after college
The team behind EYP said one way they get students engaged in their own workforce readiness is to ask, “What problems do you want to solve in the world,” and then use that as a starting point to talk about critical skills and critical thinking development. “That concept of just wrapping [career planning] around something they’re so excited about and giving them that sense of self-efficacy that they can…impact change, and then [helping them] figure out how.”

What employers need vs. what’s being taught.

Pietsch, who is also a father of three, shared his own experience coaching one of his sons as he ventured out to look for work. “He struggled with being able to articulate and relate his experience and skills in an interview. Far too many students don’t connect that they have experiences and skills that are valued by potential employers.”
Pietsch stressed how important it is for schools to consider instituting programming through classes whenever possible. “Frankly, if it’s not for a grade students likely won’t do (the legwork) no matter how much you tell them it is good for them. Grades are a student’s currency, if you want an outcome where students are better prepared for a career, no matter the activity or skill, the best outcome is if it is for a grade.”
Employers aren’t just looking for the “resume;” they’re looking for a culture fit. How to navigate that isn’t being taught.
Academic policies that don’t translate to the real world—such as needing to take and pass Statistics to major in business—can result in students being told they can’t do something, which holds them back from their potential.

Preparing institutions to teach workforce readiness.

From Sheridan “I really believe that for the broad swath of students, what we need is the ability for them to feel comfortable with conversations. …Sure, we’ll have the top scientific and tech students along the way, but it’s got to be more than that because they have to adjust to what the next technology is going to be. And…that’s a very difficult thing, frankly, for a tenure-track professor who’s been in a research mode to teach.”
Instructors and institutions have to be willing and able to implement new programs and revamp how they teach. Octavia Brown, Director of Career Services at Pepperdine School of Public Policy, added how teachers, counselors, and institutions today need to be able to see where the jobs are going to be tomorrow.
Hiring teachers/professors who understand today’s workforce is also a challenge. Krishna from RAND reminded all that the tenure system itself doesn’t allow for this, as professors have to research and publish and aren’t often there to teach. This is a deeper systemic issue to be addressed when it comes to workforce readiness. (Changing this isn’t easy! As Sheridan replied, “Well, you know, I’m in favor of world peace, too.”)
So many industries now are new and emerging, and are therefore a perfect place for community colleges to focus their attention. The difficulty is that the data and statistics for these industries don’t exist yet, making it harder for 4- or 10-year institutions to quantitatively figure out what they should be teaching.
The group agreed that more professional development and informational sessions like this one, talking about workforce and industry trends, would be most helpful and welcome.

The ominous skills gap.

A big points of concern in this conversation was the skills gap, the gap between what employers need and what youth entering the workforce have been trained to do. Kumar pointed out that there are close to 7 million job openings currently, and every time the unemployment numbers come out, there are also close to 7 million unemployed. Clearly, those who are unemployed do not have the skills needed for the available jobs. Kushell contends that there’s also a big communication gap between employers and talent.
The youth unemployment rate around the world is always two to three times higher than the general unemployment rate. In addition, as older workers retire, there aren’t enough trained youth to take their place, particularly in STEM careers. So the question becomes, how can we better prepare our youth?
RAND studies have shown that the programs being offered in colleges are not matching the actual jobs available. Colleges need to be able to identify where jobs are, open the corresponding programs of study, and also guide interested students to those fields. This involves a major restructuring of how higher education currently works.

Too many college students? Not enough vocational training?

From Kumar: “Every politician wants to send everyone to college, but suppose I get a degree in government and I’m going to work in a coffee shop, that is a mismatch. Are we short-changing our technical and vocational education?”
The group discussed trying to expand vocational teaching, which gets passed over since states and school districts are held accountable to academic progress. However, vocational training would address some of the skills gap that is happening right now.

Next steps.

This conversation was a starting point. RAND and YSN look forward to hosting further collaborations with college administrators and other key stakeholders on the front lines of the student workforce preparedness pipeline. It is in everyone’s best interest that we collectively advocate for the introduction of more effective tools and frameworks for students…and administrators. The role of the educational sector in ensuring emerging talent is prepared and ready for the challenges ahead is now front and center. There are tremendous challenges, but this is also a most exciting opportunity.

More on RAND and YSN

For seventy years, RAND (www.rand.org) has been at the forefront of policy research and analysis in several areas, including education and labor markets. RAND is one of the founding partners of Solutions for Youth Employment (www.s4ye.org), which is a coalition of thought leaders working to solve the global problem of youth unemployment.

For twenty years, YSN (ysn.com), has been dedicated to inspiring young people to thrive in a way that is uniquely theirs—helping them figure out who they are, what skills they need to succeed, and how they can make an impact in the world.

Contact

Natalie Richards, RAND Corporation, Labor & Population nrichard@rand.org 310-393-0411 x6293

Jennifer Kushell, YSN/Exploring Your Potential.com jenniferk@exploringyourpotential.com 310-822-0261 x702

Microsoft Office’s Modern Workplace Series Goes Global

Tue, 24 Oct 2017 17:07:37 +0000

D id you happen to catch Microsoft’s Modern Workplace webcast on global teams, cultures, and communications? Global Workforce: The New Culture of Work featured Cam Marston of Generational Insights and Kelly Joscelyne, Chief Talent Officer at Mastercard, bringing their broad range of experience to speak to what’s new, what’s changing, and what’s most challenging in today’s global and multi-generational workforce.

One of the most fascinating insights was brought up by Cam Marston. He spoke to the fact that we are currently in an unprecedented place: for the first time in history, something so critical to business—technology—is owned almost completely by the youth. Historically, wisdom and experience came with the older generations. Now, it’s the youth who own one of the most important skills, even though they aren’t as experienced as the older generations in the workforce. It’s a fascinating switch, and one that also brings its own set of challenges.

Here at YSN, we often hear employers say that while the younger generations have technology skills, they are often weak in necessary soft skills such as listening and emotional intelligence. We hear this from employers around the globe, so this isn’t limited to one place or culture. Schools generally don’t teach soft skills even though they are so imperative to a successful and happy life, so many (if not most) corporate HR executives are having to build in extra training to on-board new talent. As a member of the younger generations entering the workforce, learning these soft skills now will put you well ahead of others, regardless of what job you decide to pursue.

Kelly Joscelyne also explained three common hurdles to having a successful distance team in today’s global workforce. The first is cultural sensitivity. Her example was a suggested ad campaign at Mastercard that said included the statement, “Imagine if your fridge could refill the milk for your cereal.” The Asian members of her team replied by kindly pointing out how Western this was, as cereal is not eaten everywhere in the world.

The next two common barriers to global team building are social distance—meaning how to build trust with teams who are geographically separated—and understanding communication and tone, both of which change from culture to culture and generation to generation. Kelly Joscelyne cited the example that English speakers tend to dominate conversations—likely because of their culture of rewarding extroverted tendencies—so assuring that everyone’s voice is heard is key.

Both Cam and Kelly agreed that the best success strategies involve leaders getting to know their team members as individuals. Finding communication tools and ways to work together that address the cultural difference so that everyone can be heard and understood is also key.

And, as Cam stated, it’s good to remember that people generally want many of the same things, regardless of age or culture. Wanting to be happy, to be recognized, or to be rewarded isn’t generational or cultural. It’s human. Here at YSN, we believe that the more of these commonalities you can find—even and perhaps especially with people who seem completely different from you—the better we can all understand each other and work together.

YSN is proud to partner with Microsoft Office to spread the word about their Modern Workplace webcast. To find out more, check out the webcast for yourself.

SOCAP Brings the Social Impact Ecosystem Together

Fri, 24 Jun 2016 05:32:07 +0000

SOCAP16 will gather impact investors, social entrepreneurs, foundations, corporations, global nonprofits, and other valuable strangers all contributing to a vibrant marketplace for socially, environmentally and economically sustainable solutions. Join us September 13-16, 2016 at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, CA.

Hey everyone! Last year I had the opportunity to attend SOCAP for the first time and was completely awe struck by how the biggest foundations in the world are talking about and actively channeling hundreds of millions of dollars into entrepreneurs, start-ups and social impact organizations aimed at doing well and doing good. There’s so much to tell and share and see and learn. Check it out for yourself. If this kind of thing gets you as excited as it does us. Financial and strategic support seems to be more accessible than ever for those of us seriously trying to make a difference in the world, to scale. Finally. Here’s to your success! Jen

How Would You Make the World Better for Women?

Fri, 24 Jun 2016 05:05:02 +0000

Are you aged between 18 and 25, and ever wondered what you could do to make the world a better place for women? The Royal Institute of International Affairs has an opportunity you don’t want to miss. Enter this video competition and you could join decision-makers from around the world in London to discuss gender equality at the 2016 Chatham House International Policy Forum in July 2016. Talk about a life changing experience, that could also be game-changing for your career, not to mention the potential impact you could make on this very important issue. See more at: chathamhouse.org

Unigo Superpower Scholarship

Mon, 07 Mar 2016 18:21:09 +0000

“Which superhero or villain would you want to change places with for a day and why?

Applying for college scholarships is often a long, arduous process, but thanks to Unigo you can now actually have fun applying to receive free money for school! Check out their new scholarship – the Superpower Scholarship! All you have to do is a short write-up (250 words or less) answering the question – “Which superhero or villain would you want to change places with for a day and why?” The winner will receive $2500 to go towards their college tuition. The deadline is March 31, 2016.

Check out the details on the Superpower Scholarship here.

Rachel Shares Fulbright Adventure Teaching English, Salsa and Surfing in Brazil

Thu, 27 Aug 2015 05:36:45 +0000

Sound like fun? Jealous? We were when we heard Rocky’s story. Can you believe this is a government sponsored program for top young scholars? Meet just one of thousands of Fulbright Scholars who, every year, the US government sends around the world to work on cultural exchange programs. In fact, Fulbright is one of about a dozen US State Department sponsored programs that are responsible for over ONE MILLION students having their own adventures abroad.

Check out the official website for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Exchange programs.

Not a US Citizen? Research your own government to see what kind of programs they might have to help you expand your world! We’ll keep sharing what we find here too. And sharing more experiences like Rocky’s.

Bryan Teaches English to Korean Kids

Thu, 27 Aug 2015 05:32:07 +0000

Full name: Bryan Schiele
Age: 26
Program: No specific program, I just independently found a teaching job in Korea using recruiting agencies (I mentioned it in the blog)
Doing now: Teaching English in Korea
What I hope to be doing: Teaching English in Korea for the foreseeable future and then hopefully other countries around the world.

I’ve been teaching English in South Korea for a year and a half and it is safe to say at this point that I’ve stumbled headfirst into an international career that I didn’t even know existed as recently as two or three years ago. Fresh off of a European study abroad experience, I graduated from college with one blind goal in mind: to continue seeing the world.

I moved to Europe with no real intention other than finding a way to stay overseas long-term. After odd jobs here and there over the course of a year, I was still left wondering how it would be possible to have an overseas career that could sustain me financially and allow me the freedom to continue my passion of travel and cultural exploration. That’s about when a friend introduced me to the idea of teaching English abroad. So, I researched all of the places where I could teach English around the world (almost everywhere!) and what the qualifications were. After my research, Korea was the most enticing to me as I’d never been to Asia before, the culture seemed fascinating, and the benefits package was impressive. Even better, anyone from a native English-speaking country with a Bachelor’s Degree (in anything!) and no criminal history meets the basic qualifications to teach in Korea. A simple web search of “ESL Korea Recruiters” brought up countless recruiting agencies that could help me find a teaching job. A website called Dave’s ESL Cafe is also an excellent resource.

I was hired by a school, moved to Korea, and officially changed my name to “Bryan Teacher.” I now teach Kindergarten primarily as well as some early elementary students. The first thing I see every single morning when I get to school is tens of smiling students eager to greet me, so energetic and excited for their day at school. It’s truly an amazing way to begin any day and can make even the earliest mornings worth it. Sure, there are ups and downs. It’s not always easy managing a classroom full of 4 year olds, let alone students that have little or no English ability when they start a school year. However, the daily difficulties are made so worth it when I get to see their rapid progress and growth throughout the year. After six months or a year, many of my students can reach fully conversational, semi-fluent levels of English, which is an amazing accomplishment and gives me an immense amount of pride. Without an academic background in teaching, I can’t say that my teaching style is by the book, but I can definitely guarantee that my students will have fun in my classroom! That’s why when my school had International Day for the students to learn about other countries, I chose France so that I had an excuse to bring in as many baguettes and cheese as I could possibly find in Korea. Oh, and also (empty) bottles of wine, aka “grape juice”, just to make it even more authentic!

I’m incredibly fulfilled by my profession and feel very fortunate to do what I do. I get paid to play, sing, dance, color, draw, laugh, cook, read storybooks, make silly faces, tell stories, give high fives, make secret handshakes, and be a grown-up kid, all while living in an amazing country and part of the world that I can travel and explore. That’s why “Bryan Teacher” is absolutely here to stay in Korea for several more years and other countries around the world in the future. Teaching English abroad is my ticket to the world and it can be yours, too!

How “Bad Hires” Hurt Good Companies

Sun, 12 Jul 2015 22:35:12 +0000

There’s a lot of pressure on young people, especially new graduates to “get a job”. Sometimes that rallying cry is preached so much that overwhelmed twenty-somethings not only get depressed about starting their careers, but they become desperate to take anything they can get.

This is a very sorry state of affairs. For everyone involved. Not only the young person, but also the company that gets them. Like I always remind students living in this state of fear, stop saying “I need a job” because no employer is looking for a warm body. Someone just to fill a spot. They need talent. People who can add value. Solve problems. Help the enterprise grow and succeed. And if you help them do that, ideally, they’ll help you do the same in your career and professional development.

Since at YSN we’re always striving to show young people and those who work with them new perspectives and paradigms to expand their opportunities, here’s a new take for anyone who has ever taken or considered taking a job that wasn’t right for them, or the company. Our goal in sharing this is not just for your own good, but also because we all need to be more sensitive to the impact we have on companies and organizations, because well frankly, it affects many other people: whole corporations, industries, even economies when you have many workers not fulfilling their potential.

Here’s a look at the other side of this story, from the company’s perspective. Follow this link to an article about The Cost of a Bad Hire from Robert Half International, one of the top recruiting firms in the world. If you’re not familiar with what recruiters like this do, well, keep working hard, because the more in demand you become as talent, the more you’re going to want to know them. They get hired by top companies to find top talent. So if they ever start calling you, that means you’ve done some very good things in your career.

If you’re clever, you can extract a lot of good insights from this into what type of people companies are trying to hire, and how important making good decisions is to them too. Speak objectively about how important you know it is for the fit to be right in an interview, for both of you, and you’ll score serious points. After all, the more you see things from an employer’s perspective – not just your own – the more they’ll see you get what they need, and be more inclined to invest in seeing what you’ve got.

5 Things That Can Hold You Back in Your Career

Tue, 07 Jul 2015 18:51:27 +0000

Uncomfortable? Unhappy? Unsettled? Unfulfilled?

If any of these descriptors caught your attention and made you say “hmmm”…or flat out “YES,” we need to talk. You don’t have to live (or work) like this for long. In order to move your career forward, you may just need to get out of your own way.

In my experience, there are five issues that most often hold people back at work or in their careers. Here they are, with some tips on how to get on the right track…fast.

1. Not knowing what you want

If you really have no idea what you want to do, odds are you either haven’t had enough exposure or you haven’t done enough research. Either way, do something about it. You don’t have to know precisely, but you should have some good ideas to make real progress in your exploration. “I don’t know,” isn’t a good enough response. Narrow down the industries you like, the jobs or skills you want to use. Get as specific as possible for yourself and when people ask you what you’re looking to do. Research whatever inspires you like crazy. Then seek out people and places and resources in those areas or fields. Keep tightening your focus. The more you research and talk to people in the field, the faster you’ll find what really fits.

2. Not being able to articulate what you have to offer

You can be the most talented or qualified person in the world, but if you can’t sell yourself and what you have to offer, you’d better have a great agent! Odds are you don’t though. And even if you have a strong advocate, their enthusiasm can never substitute you confidently explaining what you’ve done and what you’re capable of. Online, offline…doesn’t matter. When pitching yourself, just be careful to be confident, not arrogant. Craft a thoughtful and strategic pitch and practice it until presenting yourself powerfully becomes second nature.

3. Not having the confidence to pursue what you aspire to do

A lot of things can create anxiety about pursuing a personal passion. Fear of the unknown, of failure, or disappointing family, financial risk or uncertainty, being too comfortable where you already are, and more. Instead of taking a giant leap, take baby steps. Test the waters out. There are plenty of ways to experiment, taste, experience new opportunities without a major move. Find ways to experience your aspirations often or long enough to build your confidence. Surround yourself with as many people you can who support your ambition and will give you the kick you need when the timing is right.

4. Not having the courage to communicate your worth to the right people

Self confidence is a tricky subject. Some seem to be born with it, some build it over time, and others fight to retain it while individuals or life in general eat away at it. Often, not being able to express what you have to offer comes from not sharing it often enough with people who can appreciate it. Broadening your network to include people in your industry or area of passion will start to expose you to a whole new circle or people who share the same interests. It can also introduce you to a whole new pool of potential advisors and mentors. Both of those efforts will build not only your confidence, but your connections with the right people.

5. Not having the tenacity to give your potential a real shot

Success rarely comes easy or fast. Those are two of the biggest reasons so few actually reach or even fathom what they’re really capable of. Falling short of your true capabilities often has a lot to do with not having the vision to see what’s possible. Or a plan to show you how it might be. Good news is, both are fixable. Dreaming big about your future might take some coaxing, but it’s one of the most inspiring exercises you can run yourself through. Coming up with a plan to make it possible then is where it all starts to become real. Then you just have to execute. With the right inspiration and a good dose of ambition, you’ll get the motivation you need to see you through to success.

Jennifer Kushell is the Founder of YSN.com – Your Success Network, the place for tools, insights, and inspiration for success in your life & career.

The Albanian Youth Entrepreneurship Project

Tue, 07 Jul 2015 18:22:55 +0000

When you live in the western world, it’s sometimes hard to understand what it means
to live in an emerging market. Until you get to visit one.

Recently I had the incredible opportunity to build and lead an entrepreneurial bootcamp for about 100 students in Albania. Luckily, I wasn’t alone. Managing a class that large on my own would have been a whole other challenge! 20 year-old Jordan Agolli, founder of the popular podcast called Teenage Entrepreneur was right there with me, as a shining example of all that you can achieve when you start young.

Two schools – one vocational program in Durres and a prep school in Tirana – served as hosts to us and large classes of aspiring entrepreneurs. The most profound takeaways? Here are 5 of my top:

1. There is a ton of opportunity for entrepreneurs in emerging markets to develop and deliver new products and services.

2. As good as any entrepreneurship classes may be, there is no substitution for real experience bringing a product or service to market. All else is conceptual.

3. Sometimes, getting to proof of concept (vs. full scale launch), is a good enough goal. Proving that a business idea is viable and financially sustainable is a strong early milestone.

4. Students are hungry for opportunities to grow, work, collaborate and travel. Finding projects to partner on, even abroad, is an excellent way to bridge the gaps and build wonderful new relationships.

5. Exposure and context are everything. Sometime we all just need to step out of our comfort zone, and hear and see what’s really possible to build confidence around who we are, what we’re capable of, and how far we can go.

There’s so much more to share, but let me just close out by saying these students were beyond incredible. We wish we’d had more time to spend getting to know them, learn about their ideas, mentor them, and solicit their help in sculpting the new offerings for upcoming programs.