In this episode, Priten speaks with Laura Schroeder, an 18-year-old student in Germany who spent a year at an American high school and now participates in the Knowledge Society, a global innovation program for ambitious teens. Laura's dual experience across two education systems reveals a critical tension: while schools provide foundation and structure, ambitious students increasingly find their most meaningful learning happening outside formal classrooms, driven by curiosity and real-world project work rather than standardized curricula.Key Takeaways:American schools excel at fostering belonging and passion; German schools prioritize academic depth. The US system's emphasis on extracurriculars, personalized classrooms, and elective variety created a strong sense of community and identity, while Germany's more rigorous curriculum moved students through material years ahead—showing that schools can optimize for different values but rarely achieve both simultaneously.Technology in classrooms creates distraction rather than learning gains. Whether Chromebooks or iPads, digital devices enable both research efficiency and constant off-task engagement; Laura's choice to prioritize TKS work over classroom attention reveals that access to devices lets ambitious students opt out, while less motivated students simply drift.Project-based learning and standardized structures cannot coexist. Rigid schedules, subject silos, and grades as numbers fundamentally conflict with the flexible, exploration-driven learning Laura values—and attempting to layer PBL onto existing structures, or adding AI without rethinking foundations, misses the deeper architectural problem.School provides maturity and awareness that independent learning cannot. Laura credits high school with giving her the lived experience of education's shortcomings, which then motivated her own solutions; skipping formal education earlier wouldn't have accelerated her impact because she lacked the contextual understanding to see the problems that mattered.The students most prepared for the future are building it themselves alongside school, not through it. TKS, her project Passion Fruit, and her conference attendance are where Laura develops judgment, iteration, and genuine stakes—school becomes optional context rather than the primary engine of growth for students who have found their direction.Laura Schroeder is a high school student driven by curiosity and a desire to create meaningful impact. As an Innovator at The Knowledge Society, she builds projects at the intersection of AI, project-based learning, and student agency. Laura is on a mission to reimagine secondary education by returning to first principles and the 'why' behind education - advocating for personalized, interdisciplinary, and foundational education that equips students to thrive in today’s world and the one ahead.

Former BYU center Connor Pay is back for year two of his decade-long journey — and what a year it's been. From the highs of NFL mini camps with the Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders, to an unexpected pivot into college coaching and international entrepreneurship, Connor's story is proof that God's plan is almost never the plan you made.In this episode:The NFL dream — and what actually happened. Connor breaks down the brutal reality of life as an undrafted free agent: the bidding wars that went dark, the piece of paper in his locker, the flights that got canceled, and why not getting preseason film can end a career before it starts.Coaching at BYU. How a conversation with head coach Kalani Sitake turned into a full-time staff position — and why Connor never saw it coming.The We Are One Foundation. Connor is heading to Tonga in June to open an employment center for 130 remote workers, running in partnership with BYU Pathway. He's the VP of the foundation and co-founder of the affiliated company alongside Isaiah Kafue.NIL, the transfer portal, and real talk about money. Connor lived on both sides of the NIL era and is now coaching guys through it. His message: you may never make this much money again — invest now.Elder Rasband. A two-and-a-half-hour conversation about honesty, NIL, and revelation — leading to a friendship that ended with an apostle sealing Connor and his new wife Mallory in the temple.Mallory. She DM'd him on Instagram. He responded. They got married in February. Two months in, he's already the one filling up her water bottle before bed.D&C 88:73 and a phone password that finally made sense. One of the most quietly powerful "hand of the Lord" stories you'll hear — seven years in the making.How to receive revelation — what Elder Rasband taught Connor's younger brother Austin that applies to all of us.Links:Track your own decade: adecadenevertobeforgotten.com — use the daily journal to answer a new question every day and watch your perspective change over the yearsThe app: adntbf.comWant to follow Connor's journey? Tune in again next year — and next time, Mallory's joining too.

Recess is often thought of as an “extra” activity in the school day. Sometimes it’s even taken away from students as a punishment. But some schools think about recess as an integral part of the school day, where students get the opportunity to connect, practice important social and problem-solving skills they’ll need for life.Others are taking it a step further and using it as a tool to help students feel more connected to their school experience, and to decrease chronic absenteeism and establish a school culture where kids feel like they belong at school. That’s why I was so excited to connect with Elizabeth Cushing from Playworks.Elizabeth Cushing is CEO of Playworks, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to using the power of play to bring out the best in every child. Elizabeth joined Playworks in 2004 and was named President and COO in 2011 and CEO in 2020. She leads Playworks' Executive Team and is responsible for the organization's strategy, operations and fiscal health. During her tenure Elizabeth has played a lead role in designing Playworks’ national scaling strategy including engaging national investors. Alongside founder, Jill Vialet, Elizabeth led the organization through a sustained period of growth from a San Francisco Bay Area-focus to a national organization with 14 teams across the country. As a result of strategic expansion, Playworks shares its unique brand of play and physical activity with 1,000 elementary schools reaching more than 1M children annually. For more than 30 years Elizabeth has served in leadership roles in nonprofit organizations focused on youth development, children's advocacy and women's issues. Elizabeth is a product of Oregon public schools, Stanford University and the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs.In this conversation, we discuss:✅ Simple ways educators can set expectations and rules to create structure and a sense of safety around recess✅ How to use play as a reset and a preventative measure, instead of something that’s taken away from kids as a punishment✅ How training kids as peer coaches can help decrease disruptive behaviors and help kids discover their own leadership potentialYou can learn more about Playworks on their website at: https://www.playworks.org/Resources mentioned in this interview include:Comprehensive Game Guide that Outlines Games Across Grade Levels: https://www.playworks.org/indiana/game-guide/The sister website for Playworks with tools for assessing the health of your school’s recess: https://www.recesslab.org/In this conversation, I mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

Ever felt like a fraud in your new nursing manager role, second-guessing every decision while the unit chaos swirls? You're not alone, this episode dives deep into imposter syndrome's grip on nurse leaders, blending raw emotions of doubt, burnout, and work-life bleed with hard stats (like 58% of new leaders battling intense self-doubt) and battle-tested wisdom to reframe struggle as your superpower.New managers, it's okay to stumble, inside the hospital and out. We unpack turnover ripples (RN rates at 36%+), isolation traps, and simple shifts like self-compassion reps that turn vulnerability into unbreakable leadership, empowering you to lead teams with grace and reclaim your peace.Tune in for stories that hit home, strategies that stick, and permission to thrive messy. If you're a nurse leader feeling the weight, this is your reset, growth awaits beyond the imposter fog. Subscribe for more unfiltered healthcare leadership truths!

In this episode, Dr. Brian Poncy shares the story behind his free math fact fluency program, Facts on Fire. We explore how the program started, how it has evolved over time, and what classroom teachers can realistically expect from students using a model that takes less than 10 minutes a day over six weeks.X/Twitter:   Brian Poncy (@brian_poncy) / XWebsite: http://www.factsonfire.com