Are you an aspiring changemaker? Unleash your full potential at The Knowledge Society (TKS)

Teens are working on legit projects, building their portfolios and meeting cool industry folks. You could be one of them, you’ve just got to take initiative.

I bet you’re wondering, what even is TKS?

A quick google search will get you the high level run down:

“TKS is a 10-month global innovation program for ambitious high school students ages 13–17.”

But of course a quick google search can not do the program enough justice, so I got you.

If I could sum my TKS experience in just 3 words, it’d boil down to:

Connecting, Creating & Changing

Basically, doing real shit.

TLDR

Join TKS and realize your full potential!

How?

At TKS, you will:

• have a community of like minded individuals who’ll become your besties while holding you accountable. Everyone at TKS wants to make the world a better place. Simply put, TKS is a community of go getters
• have directors who will always be a point of contact for feedback on your projects, guidance, and casual one on ones. The support is endless.
• be working on projects that not only bring you joy but are making strides in whatever domain you focus on. Your why, the reason you embarked on this journey in the first place, will keep you going when things get tough. Because things will get tough, and you’ll want to quit…doing real stuff ain’t easy. But is it worth it? Oh 100%. The growth you’ll see over the course of a year will blow you away.

It all boils down to how much work you put in though. After all you only reap what you sow. Some people earn internships, dope speaking opportunities at conferences, awesome connections and create pretty cool portfolios, others can only say that they did TKS with nothing to show for it…it really is up to you.

The long answer, if you care to listen (or read I should say)

Pursuing challenge and craving growth > conforming (AKA why I chose TKS)

My biggest fear is being average and fitting in with the crowd. I knew the one way to prevent my fear from becoming a reality would mean understanding what everyone is doing, and doing the exact opposite…so I did.

Right now, most people our age are doing school, getting that done with, living life, getting that done with, and calling it a day — all in the name of YOLO. I figured that if you only live once (YOLO), the time is now to do real shit.

I knew one thing for sure. I wanted to be a change maker leveraging modern day tech. After all we live in a time like no other where tech advances are astronomical. Case in point: gene editing (CRISPR) for genetic diseases, the metaverse, personalized medicine, machine learning for credit scoring…potential is uncapped

How, where, when, with who I didn’t know. With such a big and vague goal I felt overwhelmed, I didn’t know where to start. Queue TKS.

TKS — Connecting, Creating & Changing

Connecting

“Your network is your net worth”

Your connections serve as your currency because success doesn’t occur in a vacuum, you’ve got to have good relationships, a ton for that matter.

Week 1 at TKS, I had 20+ brain dates connecting with fellow innovates ( what we change makers at TKS like to call ourselves). I was on a connection high because the people I was meeting were so diverse but we shared a deep curiosity and a mutual passion for creating change in our own unique ways. Most of the people I met are now lifelong besties who helped me navigate life, projects, and anything that came my way.

Creating

What better way to show your capabilities than to build up your portfolio

At TKS, we all share an insatiable curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. Coming in, I knew I wanted to be a change maker, didn’t know in what domain, but I love learning and so the first couple months, I tested the waters by exploring different emerging tech fields until I found my niche, the space that excites me — AI meets financial technology. Since, I’ve been working on building projects within this space.

Changing

“1% better everyday means in a year, you’ll be 37 times better than when you first began”

By changing, I mean evolving. At TKS you’re constantly pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. Your immersing yourself in things that once caused you fear. That’s the one true way to see yourself grow and evolve into the best version of yourself.

For me it was always speaking. I was once the quiet kid in class that was too afraid to raise there hand because I was afraid of judgement. Recently, I was project manager in a team challenge where we worked with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to restructure education systems for the future. Mind you I also pitched our recommendation. I’ve gone from the quiet kid to unstoppable not because I’ve overcome my fear, speaking still scares the heck out of me.

I learnt that the fear never really goes away, you just learn to act anyway, in spite of the discomfort. That the difference between the status quo and those who become successful: learning to revel in discomfort, maybe even desire it.

The ball is in your court

Whether or not you choose to join TKS is up to you but trust me, TKS changes you for the better. I’m just here to remind you that the time is now to start working on yourself, to start building the projects that’ll get you ahead. Start young and give yourself an unfair advantage. Word to the wise: anything you want in life you can attain by connecting, creating and changing in some way shape or form…you’ve just got to be willing to put in the work.