Growth mindset is something I’ve talked about for years.
I’ve encouraged students to take risks, stay curious, and see uncertainty as part of learning. I believe deeply in those ideas. And yet, somewhere along the way, I realized something uncomfortable:
I wasn’t fully living them myself anymore.
Not because I stopped caring, but because it’s surprisingly easy, even as an educator, to drift into familiarity. To teach concepts without being immersed in the conditions that actually demand them. To talk about adaptability while operating inside systems that quietly reward stability.
That realization is what led to this trip.
I didn’t leave because I had everything figured out. I left because I felt myself missing the very experiences that once shaped how I learned. Navigating uncertainty, making decisions without clear
answers, learning directly from people and
environments instead of frameworks alone.
Growth mindset isn’t something that stays alive through repetition. It stays alive through exposure.
And I noticed that my exposure had narrowed.
This journey is my way of reopening it.
Out here, learning isn’t theoretical. If a system doesn’t work, power, food, time, logistics, the feedback is immediate. If I misjudge something, I don’t get to revise a lesson plan later. I adapt in real time. Every day asks for skills we often name in education but rarely practice in full view of students. Problem-solving under constraints, self-direction, humility, reflection, and adjustment.
What struck me most was how familiar this felt.
This is the kind of learning that shaped me long before I became a teacher. It’s the kind of learning students are hungry for, even if they don’t have language for it yet.
We talk about growth mindset as something students need. But the truth is, it’s something adults need to return to. Especially those of us who teach, because modeling curiosity, uncertainty, and learning-in-progress matters far more than explaining them.
This trip isn’t about rejecting school or stepping away from education. It’s about stepping back into the conditions that make learning honest.
I’m traveling to listen more than explain.
To learn from people building real things.
To notice what questions actually arise when life isn’t pre-packaged.
Life isn't meant to be boxed in, not with walls or strict standards.
If I am going to teach students the skills they need to know for real life, how to deal with failure, work through challenges, communicate their ideas, and make an idea come to life; then I have to go out and live like that alongside them.
How else can we model these kinds of skills to students?
If growth mindset means anything, it means staying willing to become a learner again.
This journey is me doing exactly that.
