Learning from the Thiel Fellows

Over and beyond the stipend given to Thiel Fellows is the access to Peter Thiel's network. While I am neither a Thiel Fellow nor do I have access to the Thiel Network, I still have benefited from the existence of the Thiel Fellowship! It's not that I secretly have access to some rotating solar panels or take some life extension pill created by any of the 20 Under 20, but rather that I've carefully looked at the smaller achievements they've made and used it as inspiration. This inspiration I've gotten from these guys is the true value of the Thiel Fellowship as a "philanthropic" effort. I mean, there are very few voices in the public discourse sending the message that Millenials are not "lazy and entitled," but instead, are capable of both taking charge of their own learning and seriously working on life-improving projects in the process.

Some of these lessons I've learnt include having the courage to take on projects that have an extended time-line (looking towards the horizon) and going out and actively seeking the community you need to realize your project. In addition, I've learnt much from reading a book written by one fellow Dale J. Stephens about life-long learning. There are other small things I picked up like from some other fellows like: getting lots of whiteboards to study and brainstorm with, building a personal website, reading more academic journals and networking/aiding peers who want to build something.

Also, consider one distinguishing feature of the Thiel Fellowship application. For many programs, after decisions have been sent out, you're either in, not-in, or on the waiting-list. If you didn't make the cut, not much becomes of all the effort involved. With the fellowship, the application is less exclusive (even if you don't get it you might still get access to various opportunities), involves building up a lasting portfolio and still has the potential for smaller grants and opportunities. Taking all of this into account, it seems to be a success.

Review: 40 Alternatives to a College Degree (James Altucher)

By the end of the book, you think to yourself, "Huh, I've never thought of doing that! These are great ideas, but if I were opting not to go to college, would I want this to be the book I refer to when I inevitably get asked how I came to my conclusions?" 

James Altucher seems to have compiled this mini-book from blog posts. You can tell because he tells the story about how after years of studying computers in college, he supposedly couldn't even turn one on for his job. I think he's exaggerating when he says that he worked 40 hrs a week while taking 6 courses per semester, but the book isn't about him. Even if it were, the question to ask is what could motivate someone who got a full-ride into grad school to write a book about college alternatives.

As with books on this subject, Altucher makes the case that college is expensive, can sometimes under deliver on quality of education and so on. I think the benefit of the book is really more about being creative when making of life decisions - recognizing that there are way more options than you think you have. He says that the book could easily have been 100 alternatives and 40 was just an arbitrary choice.

A good takeaway point I liked was this: Even if you're interested in a profession that absolutely requires degrees, it's still a good idea to do something else before going straight to college. For example, if you want to be a lawyer, try to take the bar in California and maybe work as a paralegal for a while. If you want to be a doctor, go change bed-pans for a few weeks and see if you have what it takes to treat the sick. Doing these activities are super important because down the road you will want someone to give you a recommendation. Why should someone take their time out to support you in pursuit of a profession that you only think you want? Altucher provides the kind of thinking that helps those who want to go to college and those who want alternatives. 

Ultimately, I would not have been satisfied if I had paid the $5 for this book (I got it for free by subscribing to James Altucher's podcast). I would approach it this way: If you got the book for free, used one of its ideas and had success with it, send Altucher the $5. If not, then you still might have learned something and so your time wasn't really wasted. 

Here is the summary list of 40 alternatives: www.slideshare.net/JamesAltucher/james-altucher-40-alternatives-to-college

My favorites:

1. vipassana meditation retreat
2. become a connector
3. backpack el camino de santiago 
4. do the appalachian trail
5. virtual mentor every week

Review: Hacking Your Education (Dale J. Stephens)

Hacking Your Education... or as I like to call it: An Introvert's Guide to Honing Street Smarts, Building a Network and Embracing Self-Directed Learning  

As far as college-related books go, I've read James Altucher, Blake Boles, and Andrew Roberts (plus a ton of other shorter works). Out of all these writers, Dale J. Stephens has provided what is arguably the Summa of launching your life without college and making the most of college if you still end up going. Perhaps at some point (after plenty of experience "hacking" my own education), I should try my hand at writing what I shall call the Summa Hackademia to carry on the project. For now though, Dale's book is my Start Here! reference book for anyone who asks about making it as a Millenial.

The Physical Book.  HYE was published by Penguin Books USA. It's paperback with a page count of roughly 200 pages. It's small enough to carry around and fit in the pocket of a light jacket. To be honest, it looks kinda like a software manual. From the back at least. But it is well edited/formatted compared to some self-published books on the same subject. As for the font, I was even able to read under low-light and make sense of the ideas.

Main Sources. As a hackademic and serial unschooler, Dale's big on real world experiences. There are oodles of anecdotes from daring individuals who either dropped out of college, opted out or finished but gained entirely new skills through good ole' self-directed learning. Often what you find in this genre are people who actually did go to college but recognized the opportunity costs of college after the fact. Dale gets instant street-cred for having lived out the advice in this book.  By including short profiles of many others, the argument becomes more convincing that taking on big projects at 18 is a viable way to launch one's adult life. 

Is College Worth it? The first chapter was dedicated to assessing the value of college. Most college-hacking books follow this format. Here's an opportunity I've noticed. A significant portion of the audience is already pretty much sold on leaving the Ivory Tower to pursue their own projects. In my case, the main value of this chapter was understanding why others decided on an alternative trajectory after high school. I think there's a market for a book which provides the case for education hacking from a "mature" perspective. These books exist, I think, and I will review them. It's just that they are rare and often pre-MOOCs or even pre-internet. I plan to read Anya Kamenetz's DIY U and then, I will see how well it makes the case to a wider audience.

By the voice in which HYE was written, I just get the sense that Dale's audience was basically his age group. Don't get me wrong, though. this is still a Romantic work. It inspires wonderlust, independence, and risk-taking. As a young person, I eat it all up. I'm just not so sure my dear quinquagenarian mother would. 

Ideally, hackademics can move out on their own, but it helps to have the support of family because, to put it frankly: shit happens. If you watch any media coverage of programs like the Thiel Fellowship, reporters are always inquisitive about how the fellow's parents took the news that their  Ivy educated children will be changing course. Of course, the answer is always that parent's didn't take it well. When you're trying to make it without a degree, the last thing you want is a resentful parent(s), so I think this aversion to risk is a cultural hurdle Americans have to get past and something we all need more advice on navigating. Dale's fortunate circumstances were that his mom was a teacher with an open mind to unschooling and so he got started in that community even before high school.

The Fun Begins. After the first chapter, that's when I got into the substance of the book. Instead of telling you "Find a mentor," Dale offers a template for reaching out to high profile people you're interested in learning from. Instead of just saying "Join a interest-based community," he tells you how to get in to an exclusive conference and how to pitch ideas. I could go on and on about the things I learned here. These are the areas where Dale takes the comparative advantage over older writers. As a Millenial, he gets to include the back-door solutions that make any sensible person squeamish. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Contents:

1. Understanding the System
2. The Hackademic Mind-set
3. Identifying Your Talents
4. Finding Mentors and Teachers
5. Building a Community/Network
6. Finding Educational Resources
7. Learning from the World

These seemingly straightforward chapter titles do not speak for themselves. The gems are hidden under subsections called the "Hack of the Day." In these pages, Dale abstracts away the methods used by each hackademic he interviewed and so the reader is able to apply the steps in new situations. If you think you can't become a ship captain or live in Paris under $1000, think again. There are no guarantees, but this book makes it clear how much you can grow by forging your own path even if it backfires. Some might be skeptical about how well these ideas work when you're a minority, but Dale does a good job of addressing that skepticism through the diverse examples he includes. 

In conclusion, I really couldn't come up with any criticisms of HYE. Dale has perfected the art of education hacking and distilled his experience into book form for us all to make use of. In fact, he started an organization called Uncollege that provides plenty more resources on education hacking as well as hackademic camps and a Gap Year program where the emphasis is on experiential and networked learning through travel, internships, and projects. I'll be checking out their collection of resources on the website and re-reading HYE from time to time. Going back to my alternative title, these skills are things many extroverts like Dale pick up on the fly, but after HYE even the introverts don't have an excuse.