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Let’s get one thing straight:

The modern school system wasn’t built to unlock your creativity.
It was built to make you obedient.

Designed during the Industrial Revolution, and heavily influenced by powerful figures like John D. Rockefeller — who once said “I don’t want a nation of thinkers; I want a nation of workers” — school was built to train you to follow instructions, not ask questions. To memorize, not imagine. To comply, not create.

Rockefeller didn’t want poets or philosophers.
He wanted reliable labor. And it worked — for the factory era.

But we’re not in that world anymore. And here’s the catch:

Read that again.

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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:

📈 Forget Goal-Setting, Here’s What Actually Works ​Read More →​

🎨 Best tools for building your passion project ​ ​Read More​ →​

📘 Ready for some real talk? ​ ​Read More​ →​

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Obedience won’t save your future.

AI doesn’t need lunch breaks.
It doesn’t get tired.
It doesn’t question validity. It just executes.

So if your “talent” is being really good at writing what your teacher wants to hear, or checking boxes on a worksheet… that’s not talent. That’s compliance. And machines are better at it.

But machines can’t do this:

• Dream up a wild solution no one’s considered yet
• See opportunity in chaos
• Connect seemingly unrelated dots
• Build something meaningful with heart

Those are human skills.
Innovator skills.
​OCE skills.

So what should school be teaching you?

Seymour Papert, one of the OGs of learning theory and AI, once said that if he could reimagine school, he’d:

1. Get rid of the curriculum
2. Stop separating kids by age
3. Let learning be different for everyone

Sounds radical?

Maybe. But then again, so is the future you’re walking into.

We think school should actually help you prepare for it.

Not just to survive — but to lead.

That’s why we created OCE.

Not to turn you into a “good student.”

But to help you become a creative problem-solver, collaborator, and changemaker.

Here, you won’t just memorize what someone else did.

You’ll co-create real projects with real founders solving real problems across the ASEAN emerging markets.

You’ll learn:

• How to test business ideas (without spending a cent)
• How to think like a founder, not an employee
• How to spot global trends before they blow up
• How to build your edge in public, even before you turn 18

Because let’s be honest…

School doesn’t teach you how to build a future that AI can’t.

We do.

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P.S. If you’re a teen with ideas, drive, and no roadmap — you’re not broken.
You’re probably just not built for the system.
You’re built for something bigger.

And OCE is here for it. Check out our cohort program.

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Like what you read? Share with friends!

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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.

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Lena

​https://www.openclassroomexperience.com/​