Write of Passage Weekly - When Elon Musk Becomes Your Boss

You’ve heard me talk about the incredibly well-deserved success of Write of Passage alum Ana Lorena Fabrega, right?

Well, a part of her story starts with Elon Musk. 

One day, after leaving a lackluster parent evening at his children’s school, Elon was inspired to rethink the fundamental principles of education. Why do we continue teaching kids the same as we did 100 years ago when success looks entirely different today? 

Here’s what he came up with for the future of education:

• Ditch the assembly line model — no grade levels. Age segregation doesn't work because kids have different aptitudes and interests that vary across time.
• Problem-focused, not tool-focused. Learning to use tools is pointless and boring unless those tools help you solve a real problem.

Elon decided to start his own school: Ad Astra. He hired Josh Dahn to run it. Kids there learned real-world skills like teamwork and problem-solving through games. The most popular one was called Synthesis, and today, it’s spun off into its own school.  

Meanwhile, Ana wanted to transform childhood education, yet felt powerless as “just a teacher.” She felt deeply frustrated by the system. She had a lot of ideas but no idea where to turn. At the time, Ana had no connection to Elon Musk.

For years, she taught elementary school with a lot of hard work and little recognition. She taught inside an archaic system that puts good grades above the love of learning — unfortunately, this is our current education system.

Ana joined Write of Passage having never published an article online. Her Twitter account was inactive, her website didn't exist, and she hadn't written an essay since college. (Read: Ana was a newbie to the online thing.)

She felt like an underdog on her first day of Write of Passage. “I really don’t know if I belong here,” she thought. But she did!

It didn’t take long for her relationship with herself and the Internet to change. Halfway through the course, she sent me a note: "This is the most excited I’ve been in a while. Since we started the course, my mind has been rushing non-stop with ideas.”

I love hearing this.

Ana created a website, launched her newsletter Ms. Fab, and began using Twitter to refine her ideas. Her message spread one article at a time. Then, one of her tweets went mega-viral. Her audience grew.

​3,700 retweets. 21,000 likes. Hundreds of new email subscribers. 

Just as Ana was taking off, the Synthesis team was looking for a way to promote their new program.  They reached out to her. Guess who they hired as Chief Evangelist? Ana! Guess how they found out about her? She started sharing her ideas and spreading her knowledge, and she didn’t stop. She made a name for herself in the education space — by writing online. 

Today, she's responsible for recruiting students, meeting with parents, and illustrating how the Internet is changing how we learn. I’d say she’s realizing her dream of transforming education, all right!

This story exemplifies something I teach in Write of Passage. We’re in The Age of Leverage. A decade ago, serendipity like this would not have been possible. Blogs were hard to build, social media was too small, and reaching people through traditional media was too expensive. But now, everybody can publish and distribute their ideas for free.

Sharing your ideas online allows others to access your knowledge, around the world, without taking your time. You’re no longer selling knowledge by the hour. At work, you have to be in the chair, in the office, for somebody to access your brain. But on the Internet, anybody, in any corner of the world, in any time zone, can access your best thinking, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Synthesis turns childhood education on its head. Write of Passage turns traditional writing education on its head. It isn't just a writing course either. Writing is the foundation, but the benefits go far beyond that. Like Ana, you'll publish quality ideas, find your people, and 2x your potential.

And when I shared those commitments with Ana, she said: “2x your potential? More like 10x your potential.” 

Join us for Write of Passage Cohort 10 and learn how to use the Internet to become a magnet for opportunity.

Chat soon,

David