Let me tell you a secret most people don’t figure out until they’re way older (and way more stuck):

Your job?
Your part-time gig?
That internship your parents made you apply for?

It’s not your future.
It’s your first investor.

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, most people treat jobs like the final destination.

Get the title. Climb the ladder. Collect the gold stars.
Yawn.

The real game?
Treat your job like paid learning.
Free skill-building.
Inside access.
Money in your pocket and knowledge in your brain that no one can take from you.

I had this conversation with a friend recently. One of the sharpest people I know. She's an actuary in the insurance world—aka her brain runs on math most of us can’t even pronounce. But here’s the plot twist:

She turned down a more promotable role for one that looked… less shiny. Less fast-track potential. But it gave her one thing that’s worth more than all the gold stars: access to a problem space she’s obsessed with. One where, if she plays her cards right, she’ll learn enough to eventually build her own IP. Her own business.

Smart? I’d say genius.

The game isn’t ladder climbing. The game is paid learning. Building unfair advantages. Quietly stacking leverage until the day comes when your boss isn’t your boss anymore—because your side project? That becomes the project.

And you don’t need to be a technical wizard to play this game. You just need to look at every job opportunity and ask:

Is this paying me to get better at the thing I’ll eventually own?

If the answer’s yes, congratulations, you’ve found the cheat code.

If the answer’s no… maybe you’re just busy fueling someone else’s dream.

Hard truth? Maybe.
Necessary one? Definitely.

We talk about OCE being a playground to experiment, to co-create, to build. But your job? That’s just your first investor. Milk it for all it’s worth. Skills, access, insight, network—paid for by someone else.

The ladder will always be there. But real leverage? That’s what gets you off it entirely.

Choose accordingly.

Like what you read? Share with friends!

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/