Austin Scholar #52: How Writing Online Changed My Life In One Year

& The Top 5 Lessons I Learned This Year

Hey, y'all!

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Austin Scholar newsletter.

I've learned so much from this journey. I literally feel like a different person than I did when I started.

In this issue, I'm going to share the five biggest lessons I've learned from a year of publishing every single week.

This week from Austin Scholar...

1. Austin’s Anecdote: How Writing Online Changed My Life In One Year

2. The Top 5 Lessons I Learned This Year

3. A Few Of My Friends Working On Changing Their Life, Too

---

Austin’s Anecdote: How Writing Online Changed My Life In One Year

Just one year ago, I was depressed, constantly fought with my parents, hated school, and felt directionless. 

The unhappiness started when I hit middle school, when I had a really hard time finding a balance between being a high achiever and taking care of my mental health.

When I started ignoring my mental health to focus on achievement, everything crashed and burned–because I love an all-or-nothing mindset.

My relationship with school deteriorated because I couldn’t control my compulsion to study. I was awake past midnight almost every night, even when I didn’t need to be.

School and assignments became a horrible chore that took over my entire life.

I did finish three grade levels of math in one year. But by the end, I was burnt out, angry, and really, really sad.

My mental health plummeted and I spent the entire first half of my freshman year  at home and in therapy. And to be honest? I blamed a lot of my problems on my parents. Not because it was their fault, but because I needed somewhere to put my frustration.

But when my sophomore year came along, I knew I had to make some serious changes in my life–especially if I wanted to go to a top university. Because despite my above-average grades, I hadn’t really done anything with my life.

So I started writing online.

Why? Well, a core part of the Alpha program is for students to have Masterpieces, which are basically Olympic-level projects for non-athletes. The Masterpiece program allows students to spend at least 1,000 hours working on a seemingly-impossible project built around something they love. 

And, well, I love writing, I have a ton of experience in alternative education and learning life skills, and I want to help people. These three aspects of me melded to become Austin Scholar.

And that’s how I decided to write about education.

I published my first piece What School Do You Go To? fifty-two weeks ago and I haven’t looked back.

(Even getting de-platformed from Substack because I was too young didn't stop me.)

And at the surface level, I've completely changed:

• I’ve set up a bank account (so adult of me) and made over $10,000.

• I’ve got an incredible job at Write of Passage, creating writing workshops for high school students.

• I’ve gained thousands of followers who genuinely care about what I have to say. Which is seriously amazing.

But there are also some deeper, more internal changes:

• My relationship with my parents is the best it’s ever been. Interestingly, I think a lot of the repaired bond is due to the time I spend thinking about how to help you have a better relationship with your kid. I’ve started to notice all of the little things my parents do to make me happy and my life easier. 

• My motivation in school has skyrocketed. I want to be a model student to show you just how much a high schooler can accomplish. I put in the work to get the grades, SAT scores, and build Olympic-level Masterpiece – because I want y’all to be proud of me, too.

• My mental health has continued to improve. Yes, I’ve had bad days–weeks, even–but because of Austin Scholar, I feel as though I have a purpose, a reason to get up and do things.

• I’m also pretty different from every other high school student. I’ve started to use my strengths to stand out among all of the academically-driven, high-performing students, which is setting me up for the best possible future.

I've drastically changed as a person this past year. And I'm so excited to see what changes this next year brings.

---

The Top 5 Lessons I Learned This Year

I changed my life in one year. Here are the top five lessons I learned that can help your kid do the same.

1. If you don't like what you're doing, you're not going to do it

It’s really hard to spend a lot of time on something that you hate. If your kid wants to start a life-changing project, they need to choose something they actually enjoy and feel fulfillment from doing. But, a lot of parents want to help their kids tackle great projects.

What can you do?

The number one thing about passions is that you can’t force them. No matter how many times you talk to your kid about being a lawyer or doctor or playing an instrument, you can’t make them passionate about it.

So skip over the dramatic “No, mom and dad. I can’t do what you want me to do” arguments. Instead, start by simply asking your kid what they like.

They might not know what they’re passionate about just yet, but they do have interests. Once they’ve shared those with you, do some research on the things that they like so you can have great conversations. Encourage them to dive into their curiosities.

Make it a point to learn more about your kid and why they like the things they do. And if they do seem like they are passionate about something? Sit down together and build a super cool project. You never know what could come of it.

2. Grow in public

If other people are expecting updates, you’re so much more likely to follow through on your plans and ideas. If your kid decides to grow an audience as part of a big project, they’ll want to continue checking things off of the to-do list so they can tell their followers about it.

And, perhaps more importantly, your kid will build social credibility in whatever niche they post about.

What can you do?

Help your kid start their own TikTok, Twitter account, newsletter, or YouTube channel about whatever they’re interested in.

Not only is building an audience a great project for your kid to add to their portfolio, but it will also help your kid form a positive, constructive relationship with social media.

3. Have ambitious friends

As Boston Rob says, “Tell me who you go with and I’ll tell you who you are.” If your kid surrounds themselves with people who don’t really care about doing cool things, it will be hard for them to care about doing cool things. Making sure your kid has a community of people who want to reach for the stars is crucial to your kids’ success.

What can you do?

There are so many programs, online communities, and opportunities to find other high schoolers who share your kid’s interests (plus, these communities are comprised of people ambitious enough to join types of programs in the first place). Give your kid the chance to be around other kids who want to do cool things as much as they do. (I talk more about finding your people in this newsletter.)

4. Learning how to learn will change your life

If your kid is going to complete a super cool project, they’ll need to know how to learn. Learning to learn will teach your kid how to gain expertise, how to research thoroughly and efficiently, improve their grades, and quickly pick up new skills.

Here’s my full newsletter on how and why kids need to learn how to learn.

What can you do?

To teach your kid how to learn and master a concept, play this game as a family:

At the beginning of the week, pick a random topic (ex. offshore drilling, the history of the Caribbean islands) and everyone has the rest of the week to learn as much about the topic as possible. Then, each person creates 5-10 Jeopardy questions and loads them onto a Jeopardy board_.

Whoever ends up winning the Jeopardy game gets a prize.

Your kid will learn how to fully research a topic and retain the information. They’ll also get to practice creating high-quality questions, which is another valuable skill.

Embrace learning in your family. Provide opportunities to dive into Google and master topics. Bring back the fun in learning.

5. Experiment and try new, cool things

Not to sound cliche, but high school really doesn’t last forever. Make sure your kid doesn’t waste the time they have by only doing homework and nothing else. High school is a great time to explore new skills and topics–to discover the things that light you up inside.

What can you do?

Here’s a super fun exercise your whole family can do together to encourage your kid to try new, cool things:

Have everyone independently watch a ton of YouTube videos of random, interesting skills (ex. bookbinding, origami, rock climbing, making macarons). Make a list of all the things that look like fun. Then, every two weeks, spend a day trying out something from that list. 

Over the course of a few months, your kid will get to explore all of their curiosities and discover which ones they enjoy most–all in a supportive (and bonding!) environment.

---

Scholar’s Sources: A Few Of My Friends Working On Changing Their Life, Too

Alpha High students are all on their own path to change their lives through writing online. Here are some of my friends who are diving into their passions on Twitter:

Grace: She’s a teen tweeting about epigenetics. Follow her to learn how you can actually avoid getting cancer (Grace just crossed 1,000 followers!)

Clara: Follow her to learn about breakthrough biotechnology in the areas of diseases, medicine, and treatments

Elle: She is building the world’s first totally safe teenage dating app that coaches teens through their first relationships. Follow her to learn about safe teen dating.

Nathan: He writes about how you should learn to play chess – so you can learn critical life skills and never have to pick up a self-help book.

Riley: High school student learning and sharing about nutrition for kids. Sharing strategies to build healthy eating habits.

Tessa: She struggled through 5 schools before finding one where she thrives. Writing about transforming how we educate kids using life skills.

---

Thanks for reading. Go crush the week! See y'all on Sunday.