America’s education system was a groundbreaking effort to help a growing nation thrive in the 19th century. Now, 200 years later, the world has changed; the horizon looks drastically different. Collectively, we need to redesign our education system to enable all of our children — and, by extension, our nation — to thrive today and tomorrow. “Horizon Three” or “H3” names the future-ready system we need, one that is grounded in equity serving learners’ individual strengths and needs as well as the common good. This series provides a glimpse of where H3 is already being designed and built. It also includes provocations about how we might fundamentally reimagine learning for the future ahead. You can learn more about the horizons framing here.
By Abby Falik
When I was 18, I was what we’d now call an “excellent sheep” – head down, collecting gold stars, marching toward what seemed like the only destination that mattered: admission to a selective college. I played the game well. I won the golden ring – Stanford!
But standing at the finish line, the achievement felt hollow. I couldn’t shake a nagging question: Whose race was I running? I was in somebody else’s hurry.
I knew what I needed was to pause—to step off the conveyor belt and figure out who I was beyond my identity as a “good student.” But there was no map for that journey, no encouragement toward alternative routes. My education had taught me many things, but not what mattered most: What got me out of bed when there was no alarm clock? Who were my teachers when they weren’t assigned? What was I truly curious about beyond the syllabus?
Reinventing the “Gap” Year
Life has changed dramatically since I graduated – but our approach to education hasn’t. High school remains a high-stakes race to college. We still teach to tests that AI can now pass in seconds. We still expect students to choose majors before they’ve found their missions.
The Flight School reimagines the transition to adulthood as a transformative rite of passage. We’re reinventing the “gap year” after high school as a Launch Year – not a detour, but the foundation for everything that comes next. Because for the next generation to thrive in a world that’s never changed this fast, they need more than a map – they need a compass.
The journey begins with Dis/Orientation – an invitation to pause, look up, and question everything. Through immersive workshops with our reimagined faculty, Fellows explore questions that will never appear on a final exam: Who are you beyond your achievements? What if what you believe about happiness isn’t true? What breaks your heart, and what makes you feel most alive?
With the support of our guides – near peers trained to provide mentorship and coaching – each Fellow uncovers an animating question that shapes their year:
- A Fellow from Seattle wanted to understand how people with opposing ideologies might find common ground. He volunteered on a political campaign in North Carolina and later turned to his cohort for support as he processed the challenges of polarization.
- A Fellow from Mexico lived with a family in rural India to explore women’s empowerment across cultures.
- A Fellow from Canada worked at an Indigenous eco-tourism site, grappling with what it means to travel consciously and respectfully.
- A Fellow from Niger spent time in Ghana exploring how under-resourced communities can help themselves while helping others.
These aren’t curated field trips, fly-by visits, or voluntourism—fellows design their own journeys and stay long enough to be changed by them.
An Education Higher Than Higher Ed
If we were to create higher education from scratch today, there’s no question it would look radically different. The Flight School is our attempt to prototype what’s possible:
- Our campus is in the cloud and our community is worldwide
- Our curriculum is experiential, combining ancient wisdom and modern technology
- Our faculty are practitioners who preach what they practice
- Our credential is not a certificate but a set of competencies – a compass to navigate beyond the map
Weekly rituals create the container for growth:
- Connect & Reflect creates space for intimate sharing, drawing from traditions of meaningful dialogue
- Letters from Love guides Fellows in developing self-compassion, inspired by contemplative practice
- Reflection Gallery captures weekly highlights and challenges, fostering cross-cultural understanding
The Fellowship does not have tuition. Instead, Fellows receive up to $10,000 from our Night Sky Fund and commit to “paying it forward” through their future financial, social, or cultural capital. Upon completing their Launch Year, they join a lifelong network working toward collective flourishing.
Why This Matters Now
In an era of artificial intelligence, we must invest in what makes us authentically human. These are qualities that can’t be outsourced to an algorithm or developed in classrooms alone:
- Intuition to trust an inner knowing
- Discernment to find clarity in complexity
- Connection to our shared humanity
- Courage to build a world that works for everyone
Where traditional schools optimize for test scores, we optimize for transformation. Instead of memorizing facts, our Fellows learn to ask better questions. Instead of chasing external validation, they cultivate inner clarity.
Looking Forward
The 2024-25 school year is our pilot. Our founding Fellows are helping us learn what works, and as a lean and nimble team, we’re adapting quickly to their experiences. Even a few months in, we’re seeing our impact as they navigate life’s intersections: between effort and ease, confidence and humility, head and heart, personal and collective.
This isn’t just about transforming individual lives—it’s about challenging how society thinks about learning, growth, and what it means to prepare for the future. We know there are emerging leaders in every high school on the planet who are brave enough to challenge the status quo and bold enough to imagine what’s next, and we’re determined to scale our approach to the size of a generation.
In 2025, in addition to expanding our Fellowship, we’ll launch a global community accessible to anyone who is curious about what we offer. Through daily exercises, weekly rituals, and monthly challenges, we’ll support dreamers and do-ers worldwide in practicing what matters most: finding power in the pause, connecting across difference and defining success on their own terms.
When I think back to my 18-year-old self, I imagine how much more confident and purposeful I would have been if I had had the opportunity to pause and reflect before beginning my higher education. Now, I get to watch young people take that leap, and I know the sky’s the limit for what’s possible.
Listen to our Latest Conversation With Abby Falik:
Abby Falik is the Founder of the Flight School. You can find her on Substack.
This blog series is sponsored by LearnerStudio, a non-profit organization accelerating progress towards a future of learning where young people are inspired and prepared to thrive in the Age of AI – as individuals, in careers, in their communities and our democracy. Curation of this series is led by Sujata Bhatt, founder of Incubate Learning, which is focused on reconnecting humans to their love of learning and creating.
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The Flight School redefines the gap year as a launch year, fostering self-discovery and essential human skills for future-ready graduates.
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