Author: Nola Jones

The audience falls silent during a portion of Noah Eckstein’s Harvard commencement speech. Not courteously silent, but truly motionless. He recently told 30,000 people that the beginning of his life is like a joke: a Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian enter a bar. Then he says, “Those three are his family,” without blinking. At that point, you realize this isn’t going to be your usual graduation speech about believing in yourself and pursuing your dreams. On May 28, 2026, Eckstein, 22, gave the Senior English Address at Harvard’s 375th Commencement. According to the College, this is one of the…

At a website that most people have never typed, something subtly amazing is taking place. On any given afternoon, you can find something that would have seemed nearly ridiculous twenty years ago: Harvard University courses, some of which are entirely free, waiting for anyone with an internet connection and a few free hours. There is no need for a campus tour. No essay for admission. There is no waiting list. In many respects, it began with CS50. Long before Harvard formally established its online learning division, its renowned introductory computer science course became somewhat of an internet phenomenon. Students in…

Matt Freese once described a moment that sticks in your memory. Ten years old, he was by himself in his bedroom, carefully lifting his feet to avoid the wooden bed frame as he repeatedly threw himself onto a mattress and caught invisible balls. He was attempting to learn how to dive. Eventually, the bed broke. Most likely, his mother had inquiries. However, there was a seed in that peculiar, self-made training session that has led to him playing goal for the United States at a home World Cup. It’s difficult not to think that detail is more illuminating than any…

Every June, there is a moment at Frost Amphitheater that falls short of the highlight reel. Just before the ceremony starts, families are waiting in line at the general admission area, graduates are filing through the Grove Gate, and Lasuen Street’s oak trees are illuminated by the morning California light. No one is taking pictures of it. However, those who have been there will tell you that it lasts longer than the diploma. This year’s Baccalaureate celebration at Stanford, which takes place on June 13, is one of those occasions that, while ceremonial on paper, feels different in person. The…

Tucked away in Neosho, Missouri, is a small college called Crowder College. Its facilities are functional, its enrollment is modest, and it’s far from the shiny practice facilities of Oklahoma State or LSU. It doesn’t exactly shout “future MLB record-breaker.” However, if you examine what transpired within that program between 2021 and 2022, you begin to grasp a crucial aspect of how Jacob Misiorowski developed into the pitcher he is today. It wasn’t a clean path. It wasn’t anticipated. However, it might have been just what he needed. Misiorowski was raised in the Kansas City suburb of Grain Valley, Missouri,…

Reading Plato’s Republic with new eyes is almost disorienting. Here is a man writing in 380 BCE in a city where women were not allowed to vote, own property, or even leave the house without a male escort. He is methodically and unapologetically arguing that the most capable women ought to get the same education as men. that they ought to practice music, philosophy, and physical combat. that they ought to rule. Perhaps no concept in all of classical political philosophy has consistently surprised readers in the present day. The context is more important than most people realize. Women were…

Big ideas don’t seem to come from the Cobb County School District headquarters’ gymnasium-style conference room. There was no visible startup hoodie, no cold brew on tap, and no exposed brick. Just teachers, some obviously anxious, others strangely composed, awaiting their eight minutes in front of a panel of judges who have the authority to approve the projects they have been working on for months in their classrooms. However, observing Cobb Tank in person gives one the impression that something more significant than a school function is taking place. The district’s yearly innovation grant competition, Cobb Tank, is based on…

Ralph Sicuro was unprepared for it. The BlackRock Foundation’s recent announcement was met with equal parts shock and relief, according to the president of Pittsburgh Fire Fighters, IAFF Local No. 1, which represents about 700 city firefighters. “They were all very excited and very surprised that a large organization such as BlackRock would be so generous,” he stated. That surprise feels telling because generosity of this magnitude still takes working families by surprise, not because the gift was out of the ordinary. The figures are fairly simple. 586 children of Pittsburgh firefighters received $586,000 from the BlackRock Foundation, which seeded…

Around 2018, something changed in Morocco. Silently, in dusty rural communities where preschool classrooms were scarce and mothers had to travel hours for basic maternal care, rather than loudly and with dramatic announcements that made headlines across the globe. Seven years after the Kingdom placed a wager on its youngest citizens, that wager has been acknowledged in significant places. The 79th OMEP World Assembly and World Conference, which will take place in Rabat in July 2027, will bring together researchers, policymakers, and early childhood educators from more than 70 nations. It’s an amazing moment, and it’s probably well-deserved. The World…

The fact that Poland will host the world’s most significant conference of early childhood educators in July has a subtle significance. Not subtly noteworthy in the sense of a diplomatic press release, but truly significant in the sense that the location occasionally carries weight that no agenda item could. Poznań, a city in western Poland with broad boulevards and a self-assured sense of its own history, is getting ready to host the 78th OMEP World Assembly and World Conference, which will bring delegates from all over the world. The event, which takes place from July 13 to July 18, 2026,…