What if you don't need permission to start building the life you want?

In the final episode of the Disrupt Education Podcast 2026 Student Series, Peter Hostrawser and Alli Dahl welcome Jay Yang, author of You Can Just Do Things, for a conversation about action, opportunity, failure, confidence, education, and taking ownership of your future.

Jay started experimenting with entrepreneurship at 15. After what he calls a "portfolio of failures," he realized that instead of trying to master everything himself, he could learn directly from people already doing what he wanted to do. At 16, he began cold emailing entrepreneurs with pitch decks showing how he could create value, turning those messages into internships and opportunities.

Jay challenges the idea that we need to feel ready before beginning. His philosophy is simple: action produces information. Start something. Learn. Adjust. Develop competence. Build confidence. Then keep moving.

The conversation also explores whether traditional education unintentionally teaches students to wait, why failure can accelerate learning, how to build your own accountability network, and why knowing what you actually want matters more than blindly following a predetermined path.

Jay also shares the four-part framework he used when deciding to leave college and move across the country for an extraordinary professional opportunity: learning, earning, network, and story.

This is the perfect conversation to close the Student Series because every student we've met has demonstrated some version of the same lesson:

Stop waiting. Start doing.

This Student Series is proudly sponsored by pega6.

The workplace is changing, and students need more than classroom knowledge to succeed. They need real world skills and experiences, just like Landon demonstrated in today's episode.That's why pega6 is building the nation's first white collar trade school, helping students launch meaningful careers through hands on, career focused learning. Graduates enter the workforce job ready, gain valuable experience sooner, and can get a head start both professionally and financially.Whether you're a student looking for a different path or an employer searching for exceptional emerging talent, visit ⁠⁠⁠pega6.com⁠⁠⁠ and discover what's possible when education is built around experience.

The Disrupt Education Podcast is powered by YouScience Brightpath.

YouScience Brightpath, the next generation platform helping students make personalized decisions as they move from education to career. If you are serious about connecting students to real opportunities, head to ⁠⁠⁠youscience.com/disrupteducation-podcast⁠⁠⁠. Request a demo and let them know you heard about YouScience right here.

What happens when a student stops waiting for someone else to solve a problem and decides to become the person who solves it?

In this episode of the Disrupt Education Podcast Student Series, Peter Hostrawser and Alli Dahl sit down with Kerry Ao, the student entrepreneur behind Intertwine, an AI powered financial education platform now reaching more than 50,000 students across 230+ school districts in 33 states.

Kerry started building Intertwine while still in high school after recognizing that traditional financial literacy education wasn't connecting with students. What followed was anything but a perfectly mapped career path. There were pitch competitions, cold emails, rejection, investors, mistakes, funding rounds, college classes, leadership challenges, and a growing belief that young people don't need to wait until they're older to create meaningful impact.

Kerry opens up about leading professionals more than twice his age, learning from harsh feedback, balancing college with building a company, and why failure may teach entrepreneurs more than getting everything right. He also shares his perspective on AI in education and why technology should strengthen the relationship between teachers and students, not replace it.

This conversation is about much more than building a company. It's about curiosity, resilience, purpose, financial literacy, leadership, AI, and recognizing that students are capable of solving real problems right now.

Maybe we need to stop asking young people only what they want to become and start asking a different question:

What problem are you willing to dedicate yourself to solving?

his Student Series is proudly sponsored by pega6.

The workplace is changing, and students need more than classroom knowledge to succeed. They need real world skills and experiences, just like Landon demonstrated in today's episode.That's why pega6 is building the nation's first white collar trade school, helping students launch meaningful careers through hands on, career focused learning. Graduates enter the workforce job ready, gain valuable experience sooner, and can get a head start both professionally and financially.Whether you're a student looking for a different path or an employer searching for exceptional emerging talent, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠pega6.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ and discover what's possible when education is built around experience.

The Disrupt Education Podcast is powered by YouScience Brightpath.

YouScience Brightpath, the next generation platform helping students make personalized decisions as they move from education to career. If you are serious about connecting students to real opportunities, head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠youscience.com/disrupteducation-podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠. Request a demo and let them know you heard about YouScience right here.

What if students discovered their purpose before graduation instead of after?

In this episode of the Disrupt Education Podcast Student Series, Peter Hostrawser and Alli Dahl welcome Samantha Rosinski, a film and television production student at Chapman University whose career journey began with one middle school career exploration experience.

Samantha shares how career and technical education, mentorship, internships, SkillsUSA competitions, and hands on learning gave her the confidence to pursue a highly competitive career in film and television. Now working with HBO Max while completing college, she reflects on the importance of networking, servant leadership, storytelling with purpose, and embracing opportunities that many students overlook.

This conversation challenges the traditional idea that students should have their futures figured out before graduation. Instead, Samantha demonstrates how curiosity, meaningful experiences, and strong mentors can create a pathway that continues to evolve long after high school.

Whether you're a student, parent, educator, administrator, or business leader, this episode offers practical insights into why career exploration, experiential learning, and authentic relationships matter more than ever in preparing young people for the future.

This Student Series is proudly sponsored by pega6.

The workplace is changing, and students need more than classroom knowledge to succeed. They need real world skills and experiences, just like Landon demonstrated in today's episode.That's why pega6 is building the nation's first white collar trade school, helping students launch meaningful careers through hands on, career focused learning. Graduates enter the workforce job ready, gain valuable experience sooner, and can get a head start both professionally and financially.Whether you're a student looking for a different path or an employer searching for exceptional emerging talent, visit ⁠⁠pega6.com⁠⁠ and discover what's possible when education is built around experience.

The Disrupt Education Podcast is powered by YouScience Brightpath.

YouScience Brightpath, the next generation platform helping students make personalized decisions as they move from education to career. If you are serious about connecting students to real opportunities, head to ⁠⁠youscience.com/disrupteducation-podcast⁠⁠. Request a demo and let them know you heard about YouScience right here.