ASU+GSV 2026 Summit | Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 10:10 am-10:50 am | Career-Connected Learning & Pathways
Speakers
- Arnaud Turner, Roadtrip Nation
- Catherine Alves, Roadtrip Nation
- Joana Ponce, Roadtrip Nation
Key Takeaways
- This session showcases Road Trip Nation's partnership with Brightbound to bring career exploration to middle school students through a PBS documentary and scalable digital tools.
- Three young road trippers -- Arnaud Turner, Catherine Alves, and Joana Ponce -- share how a cross-country RV journey interviewing working professionals transformed their understanding of career possibilities beyond the traditional "14 career pathways." Co-founder Mike Mariner explains how Road Trip Nation's archive of 13,600 interview videos is being fed into AI to create personalized virtual road trips for students at scale.
- The key insight is that reaching students before 8th grade -- before traditional career navigation dogma sets in -- is critical to preventing disengagement and dropout, and that human-centered storytelling remains the most powerful tool for expanding what young people believe is possible.
Notable Quotes
"You can't be it until you see it. That's what they say. And it's like, I've seen it. So I know I can be it."
ā Arnaud Turner
"He looked me in my eyes and told me that people like him and I who grew up undocumented are allowed to be more than laborers, allowed to be more than the help. And that was the first time in 24 years of my life that I had an adult who truly understood the difficulties."
ā Joana Ponce
"I saw the 14 career paths and I was like, nah. And so eighth grade me was like, all right, we're just gonna have to pick some, hope for the best."
ā Catherine Alves
"The next generation has their stuff together. Like they're ready. We just have to give them modernized experiences that are not left over from the last industrial age to help them launch in the right way."
ā Mike Mariner
Full Transcript
So good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'm Julie Lammers. I'm the president and CEO of Brightbound.
So we are an education nonprofit focused on ensuring young people have the opportunity to explore their interests and then navigate a path to education and career success. And we are joined by our wonderful team from Road Trip Nation. We were really trying to figure out a way of engaging with Road Trip Nation a few years ago and thinking about how can we bring this wonderful experience that you just saw a preview of to middle school students. And so we worked with Road Trip Nation on this effort called Explore Your Interests.
And we're trying to think about how do we ensure that middle school students really have the opportunity to start thinking about who they are, what they want, how are they exploring their journeys. Because we know that kids who don't experience opportunity by the time they reach eighth grade really begin to foreclose experiences for themselves. And we want to make sure we're expanding the possibilities, widening the aperture of what's possible for youth. And so we partnered with Road Trip Nation to start thinking about what that might look like and what you just saw was a preview of this effort, which you will be able to see June 1st on PBS.
It will be premiering then, so you can just see the whole trip with the team here. So with me is Mike Mariner, the co-founder and CEO of Road Trip Nation. We've got Arnaud Turner, who was one of our road trippers, Catherine Alves, and Joanna Ponce. You, the three of you experienced, this was 2005, was this, 2004, 2004, was it two years ago? 2025. 2025.
Okay. 2025. 2025. Yes. Yeah. I'm sorry.
Yes. You were not born yet. 2025. That they went on this road trip. Mike, why don't you tell us a little bit about what Road Trip Nation does and why we pulled this group together to try to think about how are we exposing young people in middle school to the types of careers that are possible in the world?
Yeah, no problem. So we're, yeah, Road Trip Nation for 20 years now. We've been putting students on road trips to help them figure out what do they want to do with their life. And I know there's been a lot of talk at this conference around like the importance of humanity and the human centered part of it.
And that was definitely always been the roots of Road Trip Nation is, there's a very traditional model in our country by which young people do career navigation, it's the, here's the own it salary, did it in this and choose your this. But we always felt that there was a whole other way of finding your road in life that was more based on who you are and your interests and that there's so many other career paths that exist in the world that don't fit in the 14 career pathways. And how do you get out there and explore them and how do you importantly align with who you are? So we've been designing, we just put our 101st road trip on the road this week actually.
And so it's on PBS and all this stuff and all that good stuff. And so for a few years we've been talking with the Bright Bound team about middle school and how important that is and how the unique thing about the middle school time is that students don't have that traditional career navigation kind of dogma in their head space yet. So a little more open and they're thinking about if you can get to students earlier before some of that traditional mindset stuff sits in, I think there's a real opportunity to help spark some of those things that can help them get through the difficult ninth grade, the peak dropout year, everyone knows like 10th grade, but like the disengagement happens eighth and ninth grade. And a lot of that is because students are like, my school education is not relevant or connected to real world learning opportunities.
So for us it was, can we do a road, can we co-design a road trip with the Bright Bound team that focuses on where a student's mindset is at earlier in middle school and create a content set that goes on PBS and help can like shape the right asset based narrative around the future of work in a more interest based way, but also create a ton of shorter format assets that can be distributed to middle schools all across the country, which is what we're, that's the part two of the whole thing. So. Yeah, really exciting. And I think what, what really appealed to us at Bright Bound is as, as we're thinking about the changing nature of work and a lot of conversation at this conference about AI and how are we ensuring that there is still a human connection, that's really what this is about, right?
How are we talking to individuals about what means, what matters to them and their personal experiences? So I'm going to start, start with, with you, Arnaud. Talk a little bit about why you went on this road trip. You had, you were in college and had sort of created a major of your own and, but you were still really trying to discover what was next for you.
So why did you take the time to, to do this trip? Yeah. So I was studying at NYU and I had a professor who actually knew the director of the season that I'm on and she told me to apply. So that's how I heard about it.
And I was in a program at NYU where you create your own major. So I started a major called the Improvised Life and I'm very involved in the arts, like I'm a painter and a musician, but I also had a passion for education and I was thinking about how improvisation in the art process, like when you're making music and playing with other people or when you're painting and you only have like two colors left and like what can I make with these limited resources I have? I was thinking about how those techniques that I use in my own art practice could extend beyond just the art world into our social structure. So like how a school could better improvise when there's a pandemic or a crisis at hand or how a grocery store, which I used to work at a bunch of grocery stores, a grocery store could improvise when there's different things or anything, food production, hospitals, every system needs to know how to improvise, but when things are rigid and a lot of things are rigid for many reasons, largely due to like bureaucracy and other reasons, they end up not performing when they need to.
And so I was thinking about how things could evolve and the road trip seemed like a perfect opportunity to learn about how other people have navigated their own journeys and I'm kind of like paving my own road, no pun intended. And so it was very inspiring and yeah. And now I'm actually a substitute teacher. So it all came.
Improvising all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Was there a particular mentor or experience on the road trip that really inspired you or spoke to you?
The first man we met with his name was Bobby Gaitan and he's an artist and he's also from a family of immigrants and so he has many challenges that he's faced, but he was able to like create his own career doing what he loves, which is painting and graffiti and all of that. And he's a designer now for a company and he's still makes his own art for fun. And we went to his studio and it was in his house and it's like, I make my art in my apartment. So it was really cool to see how he just uses his space and makes the most of what he has.
And we were just surrounded by all these portraits of like his family and community and it was so inspiring. And I was like, I want to be able to do something like this for myself. And seeing him do it was a testament to the fact that it is possible for me to achieve that. And then that was the first interview we had.
So after that, each person we met with was just further affirmation like, oh, like it is possible. I can do this. I can see like, you can't be it until you see it. That's what they say.
And it's like, I've seen it. So I know I can be it. And I think that's, what's beautiful about the road trip is like, we can be something that the next generation is seeing. Yeah.
And obviously that is recorded by the Road Trip Nation team. So middle schoolers can see that as well. Joanna, let me go to you next because, you know, what inspired you to, you know, you have a child, you had to sort of disrupt your life in order to take this opportunity. What inspired you to do that and what did you learn about your career journey along the way?
Well, like most parents, when you have a kid, you automatically think, I don't want them to grow up the way I did. And I want them to have the opportunities I didn't have. And so I was cleaning houses and I was just on my knees and I was like, I'm so tired of this and I want more within my life and I have so much potential and I want Sylvia to know that it's possible to like have a life that exists outside of like cleaning houses. And so I found this road trip, my friend sent me that ad out of nowhere and I was like, this is exactly what I was asking for.
And I just knew it was a sign and I went. Excellent. And was there one in particular, one experience that has really resonated with you? For sure.
So like throughout the entire road trip, it felt like I was putting together this puzzle and all these pieces were coming together from things like my new friends and the places we were going, the strangers we met, and of course the conversations we were having with all the leaders. But it wasn't until our conversation with Yosima Reyes, Santa Clara County Poet Laureate, where he looked me in my eyes and told me that people like him and I who grew up undocumented are allowed to be more than laborers, allowed to be more than the help. And that was the first time in 24 years of my life that I had an adult who truly understood the difficulties.
me, I had this opportunity. And so yeah, after that, like the way I perceived what's possible for my future is it just couldn't be the same.
Excellent. So Catherine, you are now in, you're in college now, but you had a diversity of interests leading into this from, you know, I think content creation, the environment, modeling, there was a whole host of things that you were considering. What has this journey and this road trip done to enhance your perspective of your future career? Let's start there.
So it's kind of funny because Mike was saying earlier that by middle school people have this, like by I think eighth grade was it, that they kind of locked into the, oh here are the set, you know, careers. And that literally described me perfectly because like I saw the 14 career paths and I was like, nah. And so eighth grade me was like, all right, we're just gonna have to pick some, hope for the best. So and I kind of kept that mindset to college.
So I was like, when I was on this trip, it was my first year of college, I was like, dang, I don't know what I want to do. I don't like any of these careers. Like I don't want to sit in a little like cubicle and type for the rest of my life and I'm not, no offense to any STEM people, I'm not a STEM girlie. And so I was on the student resource page and I was like, huh, explore your interests.
I'm like, that's exactly what I need because I really want to be able to explore like, you know, different career paths. So this trip really did help me kind of broaden my horizon because now I'm at the point and I'm a junior in college and now I'm like, okay, I'm now looking back at my core interest. Like something that I brushed aside with history. I love history.
I've always had a passion about it and but when I was young, my mom was like, I ain't giving you no money, so next career. And I was like, okay. And so meeting, going on the trip, I was like, it is possible to have an interest and pursue it as a career. Like I kind of brushed it aside a long time ago, but now I'm kind of open to the idea of, hey, maybe there is something besides these 14 career paths that I could do that I'll feel fulfilled and I can, you know, be happy with.
And also it's just, it's also okay to switch up certain times. Like you don't not have to have one set route for the rest of your life. You can explore. If you want to switch, switch.
Like there's a lot of our, the people we talked to did that and I'm like, wow. I was really here like, I got to pick one, stick to one until I die. But now it's like, there's a whole world. There's so many things I can, I have so many passions.
I still do, but now I'm like open to explore every single one of them. That's really exciting. So to sort of level set, so you, the three of you got on this RV having never met each other before, right? Came from different parts of the country.
Mike sort of throws you all together with a camera in your face. What was that, the actual experience of getting on this, this RV? Like I know you needed to learn how to drive an RV, which was probably not something you anticipated going in through, you know, Seattle streets driving, driving extra large. Some of you are better that, of that than others I hear.
So what did you learn about yourselves and just being in this experience of, of being on this RV with, with complete strangers who are now really good friends. But it's not, not how, you know, you were walked into an unfamiliar situation. How did you really cope with that? I feel like the way I received it was just like, anything is possible.
Because I was not expecting like a road, I didn't know it existed. I didn't know this was a thing, but it was exactly what I needed because I was graduating and I had like no true sense of direction. I knew I didn't want a full-time job. And I was like, how am I gonna be able to move forward like after I graduate?
Because I want to make my art, but I also need money to like exist and eat. And so when I heard about the road trip and it all came through, I was just like, oh like good things, miracles do happen. That's one thing. I was like, and I need to allow miracles to happen to me.
And then once I was there, I was kind of trying to be present as possible because there was a lot of planning that went into it and I'm not typically a planner. Like improvisation is kind of my thing. So it was nice to have like Katherine and Jorana and then the whole like production team help me. Keeping you on track.
Yeah, helping me like implement some planning into my lifestyle more. But it was also cool because like I feel like we balanced each other out to be like, wait let's pause. Like we don't need to rush to the next place. We could sit at the, at the, like by water or by a waterfall or something.
So it was, it was really nice just being present with everybody and seeing so much of America and meeting all these amazing, inspiring people. And then making like true friends who I think will be friends for life. So it's a, it's a blessing. Yeah, I'm the opposite of him.
So she's the planner. Yeah, I'm a planner. And I don't like not knowing what my tomorrow will be. Which is kind of funny.
It's like, you know, like I was just like, okay, what are we doing? Where are we going? I need the whole plan. And I remember my, the director was like, girl, just relax.
I got you. And I was like, can I know what we're doing? She's like, no. And I was like.
Being on this trip, even applying for it, I was like, you know what? I need to just stay YOLO, you know. I need, I was, I don't want to say I was at rock bottom, but I was like, anything is, like he said, anything's possible. And I'm like, I'll just start with everything.
Even though ideally, going on a RV, you know, never really something that was on a bucket list. But, you know, I did it and I really enjoyed it and I would do it again. And so having the opportunity to just, you know, meet these awesome people that we are like really similar and yet we're so different. It was just amazing.
And it was like definitely, you know, being able to let go. Like you said, oh, we're just gonna sit by the ocean. I'm like, should we be doing something? Like, are we missing something?
Are we late? Like, so this is the thing. Exactly. So it's just like letting go and like being okay with like not knowing.
That's something huge I learned on the trip. Like being okay, just not know what's going on tomorrow, not going, you know, in an hour, just putting faith in other people. No offense to other people, but like I like being in control. But this is really like a let-go situation.
And it's really, it was out of my comfort zone. But every time, like I look back on it, I'm like, man, I don't regret any part of it. And so it was just so awesome and special to do. Especially to do with these guys.
Like these guys are amazing. The crew, the cast, everything. So yeah, that was definitely a life-changing experience for it. Yeah.
So I was in the middle of Arnaud and Katherine constantly. And I'd be like, Arnaud, come on this way. And I'd be like, Katherine, calm down. You're good.
Like, just let yourself be. It's all good. And it was really interesting because the word Arnaud used, miracle, is exactly, like, it felt so miraculous. This entire trip, all these little things just kept adding up and adding to the depth of it.
But there was so much heart. And as soon as we first met at the airport, like, it was instant hugs all around. Like, we were just got, we just got along so well. And it was just so, like, instant.
The connection. It just was, we got to California. And every time we've been to California, it's always been with each other. And so it's just a really special trip.
That's great. So, so Mike, it is, it's impossible to, to have every young person in the United States experience what they experienced in person. How are you thinking about getting the content and the type of experience they had into the classroom? Can you talk a little bit about the virtual road trips that you're, you're trying to launch as well?
Yeah. So I think, you know, the human centered piece of it is like central to Road Trip Nation and how do you create delivery that's scalable? Because there's a lot more students all across the country, especially reaching students earlier. So luckily for two decades, these hundred and one road trips we've done have created now 13,600 shorter format video assets that now make up the Road Trip Nation interview archive.
So it's one of the largest media databases talking about how people found their, their roads in life. And we have an amazing digital team at Road Trip Nation that has been, like, meticulously tagging each of these stories for, for the last, like, five years, even before all this, like, AI stuff was coming around. So we, all of these stories, and you'll, you'll see it when it's released on June 1st, but, like, these are not just, like, transactional career, you know, this is what I get coffee in the morning. People are talking about, I was the first in my family to go to college, or I had a learning difference, or I grew up in a, you're really getting deep on people's personal journey.
So we're able to tag based on all of that. And exactly what Arnaud was saying, like, helping people see it, if you can't see it, you can't be it. And if you can see someone that is like you, in as many dimensions as possible, in a pathway that relates to your interest in the future of work, like, what that unlocks, you can do that not in a motorhome, you can do that. So that's what we're getting into now, because we have, we have the closed captioning on this entire two decades worth of content.
So now, like, technology has changed everything, because we can feed all those closed captioning into the AI. And now we're starting to create super personalized virtual road trips for students to help them get that same visibility. And we've been piloting it for the last 12 months. We've done three pilots now.
And we're excited about when we release this fall. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, this fall. Yeah.
Excellent. So, you know, you went on this road trip to learn from other professionals, but I would imagine you've learned quite a bit from each other along this, not only the, the organization.
and structure and letting go. But what else did you learn from each other through this experience of just meeting people from a different part of the country with different lived experience? Joanna, you wanna start?
Yes, so from Arnaud, he is so courageous and it is infectious how much he just takes a risk and it has since bled into how I approach my life and how I take charge for opportunities that are at hand. I have a lot more heart behind it now where I'm like, I can do this. I am capable, I have potential, believe in me. Catherine is one of the strongest people I've ever met.
She has had to overcome so many college rejections and she is still persistent and she is so strong in her discipline, strong in her morals, and she's like, I don't care what happens, I know it's bound to happen eventually. And that strength has since resonated in me just as much. Yeah, also I wanna definitely double down on courageous. I love how this man takes risks.
He be doing stuff, I'm like, end of nice way, nothing bad. I promise, but it was especially impactful how he was trying to make a career being an artist because growing up, I was told, starving artists, no disrespect, but seeing him go for it and do it and then be successful and do it with a smile especially, I was like, wow, I don't wanna say, I feel like jealous definitely that he has the courage to do that. So it definitely does change how I look at careers and even internships or anything now because I'm like, you know what, let me just go for it. Like take the risk.
Hey, I don't wanna keep the mindset of, eh, I'm probably gonna apply it and get ghosted, but I definitely love how he takes risks. I am implementing that in my life. And Joanna, I just love how like, not only is she open to everything, she's just so strong as well. Like being a mom and going on a trip and just doing it, like being so successful, I'm like, bro's like the coolest mom ever.
And I was like, wow. But it also, she's just so like unapologetically herself in like the best way possible and just so like down to earth and connected. And I was like, wow, that's incredible, bro. And so just seeing her and seeing her shine, it's just has been so amazing.
And like, I just take everything, she'd be like, it's okay. She's like my emotional support on the trip. So it was just so wonderful. And I definitely love, I don't know who connected us, but thank you.
Like ignore, thank you everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Arnaud? So from Joanna, I would say echoing Catherine, the strength that Joanna embodies, there's so much that she carries.
And like, even when we were on the road trip, she was the one who was like, y'all like, let's help make it easier for the crew. Like we'll empty out the waste tank, which was kind of a gross. Like it was, it was, it was pretty like, yeah. And Joanna, every day, like after we were parked the RV, like she was like, let's break down, let's empty out the tank and do this stuff.
Even though like that wasn't her responsibility, but she was, she took it upon herself to be like, you know what, let's help other people and make it lighter for them. And like, she is a mom. She has a lot of stuff that she has to worry about, but you would never know it. It's like, she's carrying the weight of the world as if it's a feather.
And that's so inspiring to me, cause it's just the grace that she embodies is really amazing. And then Catherine is so determined and driven and also unique. Like, I really appreciate how passionate you are about the things you love. Like we went and watched Superman when we were in Idaho.
And like, I feel like now I approach like movies a little differently. Cause like when she goes to movies, like she wants the merchandise, like she wants to know everything about the world and she really dives into these stories and I'm a writer, like I like to write myself. And it's just like the way you really appreciate like other people's creations and just have things you're interested in, it's really cool. And it makes me excited and want to be excited about things too.
So, yeah. That's wonderful. I want to give you all a hug. So a lot has changed in your lives since you did this trip a year ago, year and a half ago now.
So, Arnaud, you mentioned that you're now a substitute teacher. Can you just all tell me a little bit about what's going on in your lives now and how has it changed over the last couple of years? So since the road trip, I ended up becoming a substitute teacher in New York City. And it's actually so heaven sent because as an artist, I was like, I don't want a full time job.
So I'm going to be drained when I get home from work and don't feel like creating art. But as a sub, I'm able to determine my own schedule. And like the company I work with, we only need to work four days in a month to stay employed and we can work however much we want. So it's like, I literally, it's kind of like DoorDash, but for teachers.
So if you see an opening, you're like, oh, I'll take this. And it can be a short term or long term. At what age are you teaching? All ranges.
I've been teaching in elementary schools all the way up to high school. And it's so cool because I'm learning so much about the system. Because you're seeing what works and what doesn't. And how amongst different areas in the city, different demographics, there's different levels of which these kids are being taught properly versus improperly.
So I'm seeing the disparities that exist in the system too. And so I'm learning a lot about teaching and then also the educational system and how it works. But I also have a lot of free time still because I'm able to be like, oh, I'm gonna just take the next two weeks off. Do your art.
Yeah, that's what's happening right now. And then like in a week, I'm gonna be teaching for like two weeks as a science teacher. So it's just cool to like be able to hop around. And then I'm painting in my free time and I go out to like the Met Museum by Central Park with my paintings and I just started playing the clarinet.
So I'm planning on like going out with my paintings and playing the clarinet. Excellent. Yeah, so it's nice, yeah. Is there anything from the road trip that you bring into the classroom?
Yeah, definitely, definitely. I mean, I was like, a part of me was like, oh, I can just show them clips from the road trip if there's like nothing to do. But I'm not gonna do that. I don't want them to know my full name so they don't have my Instagram.
But I definitely do like think, I feel like in general, I think Maya Angelou was who said this first. So I'm kind of like paraphrasing, but she was like, any room you enter, you bring everyone who you love with you. And I feel like that's kind of something that I carry is like anywhere I go, I'm carrying all the people I've met with me and all the different places I've been with me. And the road trip was such a big, life-changing experience that it's impossible for me to go anywhere without bringing the spirit of the road trip with me.
So when I'm teaching my students, I'm kind of carrying, even if I'm not quoting directly what the leader said, the spirit is there and the spirit of like both Joanna and Catherine. Oh, excellent. Carries everything. Catherine, where are you these days?
Okay, so I am a junior at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. Oh, Rattlers. I am a poli-sci major, journalism minor, and I work as a barista on campus. So, which is great because I really need a job.
So right now I'm still kind of exploring what my future will hold because definitely a college degree does not limit you. You're still like, you know, you could do anything, especially since my major is kind of like loose. I can just go into any field I want to. So I'm looking at my master's, but I was originally gonna do international development as a master's, but then I think I want to reconnect my love of history and then my passion for the environment into what I want to do.
So I'm looking at becoming either environmentalist. I definitely thinking, I do want a PhD in history, hopefully, which would be awesome. And then I'm thinking of getting a master's in sociology because I found one of my other passions is, you know, just people learning about them. And I recently found a really cool study about like Kikamori, which is like, which in Japanese is like social, like shut in, like people who just kind of just disconnect from society.
And I see that happen to so many people around me, especially like friends I used to know and go to church with and stuff. They just, I haven't seen them in years because like they just completely withdrawn. So I would like to explore, I'm talking to my sociology professor and I kind of want to like explore what's going on, like how can we help and how can we like, you know, you know, connect those people. Like what, I don't really know what's going on.
I'm still driving to change the world. Yeah, I mean, I'm still like, yeah. And also exploring in the process, like I'm open to more things and to more careers. I'm like, I can be a little Barbie doll if I want to.
I can like do anything and explore everything. That's so exciting. Joanna. Yeah, so I am now an intern at Bright Bound actually.
Road Trip connected me with Miss Julie and I work with Bright Bound. She's not taking enough credit. She helped plan all of our ASU GSB activities. So all of their sessions, we would not have gotten through this without her.
Thank you so much. But I've also been learning a lot about like education companies and like how much effort they're trying to like pour into resources for like under deserving children and stuff. And I'm from Alabama, like one of the lowest ranked in education. And when I see all this potential, I'm like, where is this in my state?
that just gives me like, it just gives me the drive to wanna connect all of these companies and all these non-profits, all these resources to my own state.
And so like allocating where it's needed and showing the kids where I'm from that that exists for you too, that you can be more than what you believe. Yeah, and so what's next for you beyond Bright Bound? Although we love having you at Bright Bound. So actually Road Trip Nation pairs you with a career coach afterwards for six months and my career coach helped me get into college for the first time in my life.
So I'll be going to DC, yeah. So you're moving to DC next year? Huh? And moving to DC next year?
Yes, I'll be moving to DC in August. Very exciting, very exciting. So Mike, what is next for Road Trip Nation? What do you have beyond the virtual road trips?
What things should people be looking out for as next steps for Road Trip? Yeah, so we're always doing new road trips, but we're also trying to get all the stories from all these road trips out into schools and to students. So yeah, any ideas, we're very open to partnering and we're working through a few big, amazing non-profits and for-profit groups. We kind of have like a non-profit B2B2C model where we reach 17.5 million students every year through a few big partner channels, including the Bright Bound.
And yeah, always trying to get that content out there. We kind of see like the interview archive database, the 13,600 videos is like hopefully a new like human-centered version of Onet. You know, like there's the Onet database, which is like the Department of Labor. For those of you who don't know, it's like the Department of Labor's career database.
So there's like all the jobs, but it's like text. And there are some videos, but they're like shot in the 1980s and stuff, you know? So, but it's kind of the de facto database that most schools and education companies use when they design their career navigation stuff. So we're like, that's totally fine.
And there's some good information there and we use some of it, but it's also not enough. Like we need real human-centered stories that we're delivering to young people and ideally as early as possible so that we get to them before, there's a lot of narratives out there right now around the future of work. And I think it's a high urgency to tell a really asset-based, optimistic possible narrative about the future. And like everything you heard here, like they're so fired up and they know that there's gonna be a lot of change in the future, but they're adaptable, they're nimble, they're agile, they're finding things they're interested in.
Like they have the right mindset and everything they need to navigate. And hopefully this gives you a little more hope for the future too. Like the next generation has their stuff together. Like they're ready.
We just have to give them modernized experiences that are not left over from the last industrial age to help them launch in the right way. And so how do you, your tools can be used in classroom, but also anyone can access them. So can you talk a little bit about how you reach, how you get access to your tools? Yeah, we have tools on our website, roadtripnation.com, but we also have partnerships with schools and nonprofit groups that extend it into schools.
So one example is that the AVID program. So they're a big nonprofit here based in San Diego. They have an elective course for a lot of first-generation college going students who are the career content provider for AVID. So, but yeah, anyone can access our stuff or through social, you know, this content will launch June 1st on PBS.
And if you follow the Bright Bound social media channels and Roadtrip Nation social channels, we'll be co-promoting it. So you'll see it in all of our networks. So there's this Roadtrip, which is gonna be amazing. And there's tons of other, there's so much more content too, so.
Excellent. So, you know, this is primarily focused on how do we expand opportunity for middle school students to see what's possible for themselves. So if you had advice for middle school students as they're watching this video, what's one thing you want them to take away from what you learned on this trip? Any of you, go ahead, go ahead, Catherine, yeah.
Oh, I'll start because that's so important to me because once again, I said like in middle school, that's where I kind of like shut off. But I will say this, middle school is so important. People kind of like shut it off, but middle school is where I honestly developed a personality. I know it sounds a little sad, but it's true.
But it's needed. Middle school, you can go cut your hair, you can go diet, you can go, you know, I had like three phases in middle school. I was like a fallout boy girl, then I was like a K-pop, anime girlie. And you know, you just need that era to just know yourself.
But one thing I want to tell middle schoolers is that, guys, like you don't let, you know, you know, I had this mentality growing up of, you know, go to school, get good grades, join all these different societies, and then you're gonna go to a good school, and you're gonna go to get a good job, and then that's your life. That's, I realized that too late, and that's not exactly how that works. And so I want to like let middle schoolers know, please don't get into that mentality. Please explore what you want to do.
Explore your passions. Like if you have a passion, continue through it. If you want to get video game design, do it. If you want to content create, that's a job now.
Go do it. Don't let other people like bully you out of it, or you know, be like embarrassed out of it, just because you never know. So definitely get out there, explore, be weird, it's okay. It's middle school.
Yeah. Yeah, so I would say that when it comes to exploring your future, it should be boundary pushing and fun. Like just have fun with it, and also keep in mind that no amount of limitations or expectations imposed on you can dictate the outcome of your future. I feel like when I was in middle school, it's easy to think that the world is smaller than it actually is, because especially, it depends on what kind of middle school you're in or where you are, obviously, but it's easy to have this worldview that is skewed to middle school, where something could be the end of the world, and it's not, and you have all these ideas of how you need to live your life, but in reality, that's not how it's gonna be when you're out of high school or out of college.
So I feel like what I would say to middle schoolers, and what I do say to the middle schoolers who I've been teaching, is you can do anything. Like, you know, the world is bigger than what you see right now, and it's constantly growing and getting smaller at the same time. So just because things are like this right now, that doesn't mean it's always gonna be that way. No condition is permanent.
So just dream big. Like, imagine, use your imagination. Imagine a world that is exciting to live in, where you're not dreading what's gonna happen next all the time, and imagine systems that actually serve people, rather than everything's just about, like, we can use our imagination to make a better world. And I always have that.
I, yeah, thank you. And I think it's always that goes back to, like, let's leave it better than we found it. And we found and inherited a pretty tough situation, but it's not as bad as it could be or has been. So we could make it better than what we've got right now.
Yeah, so June 1st. I don't know where to go with that. I can't improve on it. So I'm just gonna say June 1st, this will be premiering.
How are you going to share this experience together when it's, I know you're gonna be in different parts of the country when this premieres. What are your thoughts on how you're gonna watch this and relive this part of your lives? Any thoughts? I'll probably watch it with my daughter and cry.
I'll probably be sobbing into a pillow, like, oh my God. My family right now is already planning an event where all my cousins and relatives are coming to my house and we're gonna watch it. And so that's gonna be so exciting. I don't plan much, but I'm excited, yeah, yeah.
I'll probably. You can come over if you want. We're gonna have food, that's good. That, I'm gonna leave it there.
Thank you so much to our wonderful road trippers. And thank you, Mike, for joining us. Enjoy the rest of the conference, everyone. Thank you.
This transcript was put together by our friend Philippos Savvides from Arizona State University. The original transcript and additional summit resources are available on GitHub. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.