By Jean Fan At last week’s San Francisco meetup, hackademics sat down to brainstorm ways to showcase their skills and knowledge. To begin, we discussed the duplicity of college degrees, which are worthless yet valuable at the same time. In an economy where Bachelor’s degrees are ubiquitous, their value is diluted. Unfortunately, they’re almost always [...]
Don’t Buy Into the “College Experience”
By Jean Fan This piece is a response to “Why The College Campus Experience Still Matters.” Thanks to Gregoris Kalai for pointing it out. A recent LinkedIn article touted the importance of higher education, characterizing it as a “transformative” experience that “turns adolescents into young adults,” highlighting the impact of the college social life on [...]
A Review of “The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter”
By Joao Eira Did you know that 80% of the events that affect you and the people that influence you occur during your twenties? This is one of the statistics that Meg Jay presents in The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter – And How to Make the Most of Them Now. Jay, a clinical [...]
An Interview with Singer Katarina Minich
Katarina Minich is a singer and was a participant in this January’s Hackademic Camp. She’s just released her latest single, “Fall For This.” Buy it here. What do you care about? I’m Katarina and I’m passionate about music. It allows me to express myself, influence others, and serve as an example to others hoping to follow [...]
The Art of Quitting and Exploring
Mohnish is the marketing consultant at UnCollege, and works with bestselling authors and startups. Lately, he’s been working with Ryan Holiday, and has designed the marketing materials for a number of New York Times and Wall Street Bestsellers, including Robert Greene’s Mastery. Read his blog at www.mohnish.net and reach out to him at [email protected] He [...]
Too Much Teaching, Too Little Learning
By Jean Fan In my mind, there’s an enormous difference between teaching and learning. Teaching is when a professor stands up in front of the class and lectures for an hour while students zone out; perhaps a few will absentmindedly take notes. Learning, however — real learning — happens only when students get home at [...]
Make Your Certificates Count
By Catherine Stevens With all the changes in education that have occurred in the past few years, the one thing that hasn’t changed is certification. In traditional institutions, you get a letter grade when you complete a course. The problem, of course, is that a grade doesn’t actually say anything about what you’ve [...]
Create Your Own Curriculum With “Better Than College”
By Katrina Desopo Katrina has unknowingly been a hackademic since high school. She interns at Design Impact, works as an unofficial career counselor, and enjoys attending Toastmasters meetings. Contact her at [email protected] If you’re a self-directed learner who wants a clear guide on creating your own curriculum, Better Than College is a must-read. Author Blake [...]
Self-Directed Learning: An Inner-City Perspective
By Tiffany Mikell While touring for his book, Dale Stephens stopped by the Chicago area to participate in a panel discussion on taking control of your education by following your passion. The event was held in a high school auditorium and I had the pleasure of being in the audience that evening. The panel shared [...]
Thank you for loving me
A screenshot from when I Skyped with Rebecca Goldman to tell her I got the fellowship. This Saturday marks the close of my two-year stint as a Thiel Fellow. I sat down to write Danielle Strachman, Jim O’Niell, Mike Gibson, Deepali Roy, and Jonathan Cain a thank you letter, but I decided to expand [...]