There’s a line I never thought I’d write.

School told us the map.
Study hard.
Get the grades.
Snag the shiny degree.
Land the safe job.
Then…security?
Happiness?
Meaning?

Funny.
All I see are burned-out adults who did everything “right”…
And still feel stuck.
Still feel dispensable.
Still chasing approval in boardrooms and inboxes and overpriced condos.

But FIRST

If you are new, welcome to OCE’s weekly newsletter curated for the ambitious youth…here are some articles you missed from previous weeks:

📈

Why No One Successful Wants to Mentor You

Best tools for building your passion project

The Future Belongs to Borderless Thinkers

See, they never taught us the real rules.

They never told us:
The system wasn’t built for you to win.
It was built for you to behave.
To slot in.
To keep the machine running.

Meanwhile, the people at the top — the ones with sovereignty, legacy, and wealth —
They don’t follow the map.
They draw their own.

And that’s exactly what I’m doing.

I want sovereignty.
To wake up and know I decide what my day looks like.
To build things. Burn things down. Start again.
No permission slips. No boss. No handcuffs disguised as paychecks

I want legacy.
Not the fake, filtered version.
But the kind where you actually change things.
Where you help people like you — the misfits, the quiet rebels — see what’s possible.
Where your name means something even when you’re not in the room.

And yeah — I want wealth.
Because money isn’t evil.
It’s just a tool.
And I want enough of it to never have to trade my soul for survival.
To back my own ideas.
To help people before they’re deemed “worthy” by the world.

That’s the life I’m chasing.
Not the one they promised in the assembly halls.
Not the one stamped on your report card.
The real one.
The one you carve with your own hands.

So… keep your Ivy League acceptance letters.
Keep your cubicles.
Keep your neat little blueprint.
I’m building something bigger.

If you’ve started questioning the system too — welcome. You’re in good company. :)

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PS. This summer, we are going to tackle pressing global issues and drive innovation in regions (such as your own community) where it is needed the most. Want in?

We run a summer cohort for ambitious youth (high school and undergrads) to work directly with world-class founders while learning from Silicon Valley leaders.

OCE Summer Cohort

You can also explore purposeful opportunities through our Impact Internship Opportunities Database.

Get Curious.

Lena

https://www.openclassroomexperience.com/