0:00:07.090,0:00:10.478
I think everyone has these three zones:

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their comfort zone, their learning zone,[br]and their panic zone.

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And I think our most defining moments[br]and our greatest lessons

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come when we take risks[br]to move from comfort into learning

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and maybe, to the edge of panic.

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Now, I'm on this stage[br]because I did not go to grad school.

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Instead, about five years ago,

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after working with middle school,[br]and high school students,

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when I was curious about the intersection[br]of for-profit and for-purpose businesses,

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I was almost going to go to a traditional[br]grad school to get a master's in business,

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but the costs were too high,[br]and the style didn't fit me.

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So, I decided I would try to design[br]my own education

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by doing twelve projects[br]in twelve months around the world.

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I would source these projects[br]by talking to companies in design,

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business and social change,

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and I would try to find[br]one project I could complete

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over the course of the month.

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I would fund my year[br]by creating a newsletter

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that my friends and family could[br]subscribe to, at ten dollars a month,

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and I would share my learnings[br]with them each month.

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Now, as I was travelling[br]to fulfill this idea,

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I had met all kinds of amazing people

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who started talking to me[br]about the ideas they had

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to learn in a different kind of way,[br]or to create change,

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to take leaps of their own.

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So, I created an invitation[br]for those people to send stories

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about the leaps and risks[br]they were taking to learn, grow,

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and create change in their communities.

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And I promised that if, at the end[br]of the year, I had enough stories,

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we would take those stories[br]and make a book.

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And at the end of the year,[br]sure enough, we created a book

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called The Leap Year Project,[br]of those stories,

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and this kind of became my dissertation.

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I also needed a place to graduate,[br]some way to end my year.

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And there was a TED Conference[br]happening in Chicago.

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So I put a cap and gown on,[br]and that was my graduation.

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And in 2013, after this was all over,[br]we launched a school,

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a place where people could come[br]and design their education

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through experiences[br]in their field of study.

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We called it the Experience Institute.

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I even got to meet Oprah. (Laughter)

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Now, this is pretty traditional:

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me trying to explain some sort[br]of audacious idea

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to someone who is much more[br]successful and powerful

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and really probably doesn't[br]actually care about what I'm saying.

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This is a good picture of that year.

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(Laughter)

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Now, that was one of the most[br]transformative years of my life.

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I learned about my industry,[br]the things I cared about,

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and about myself.

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And Experience Institute[br]has been my life's work,

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inviting people of all ages[br]to design their education

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through experience and mentorship.

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But I think those photos,[br]they are all beautiful,

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and they show energy and excitement.

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I think they only tell[br]one part of the story.

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Photos like this[br]help give another picture,

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when I was in Orange County,

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trying to find a place to stay,[br]not sure where I would stay,

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and finding a couch in a garage[br]of a friend of a friend,

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and having to sleep there for a while.

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And what you don't see[br]is the number of ants on that couch;

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(Laughter)

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or the motorcycle that would[br]start every morning at 6:30,

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and that would be my alarm;

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or downsizing most of my things,[br]getting rid of them, selling them,

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so I could afford the year,[br]and so I could stay light

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and carry nothing more than[br]just a couple of bags as I traveled;

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getting to the end of the year

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and realizing that writing a book,[br]prepping for a TED talk,

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and trying to start a school[br]is really overwhelming.

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Now, ever since Leap Year,

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I've been exploring the risk it takes[br]to move from comfort into learning,

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and the transformative impact it has[br]on an individual's life and career.

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What I never expected to find[br]was the role that panic plays in learning.

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It's the space where you come[br]face to face with your fears.

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and not just your fear's[br]bloated versions of those fears,

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things that don't even really exist.

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It's a part of learning that's necessary,[br]but it's rarely discussed.

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Now, for a second,[br]let's go back to those zones.

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There's an influential psychologist[br]named Lev Vygotsky.

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He talks about the zone[br]of proximal development.

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The comfort zone isn't necessarily[br]about your resources, what you have.

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It's about your abilities,[br]about not being challenged.

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You know what you know,

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and you're right in the middle[br]of what you know

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and, doing just that, there isn't[br]really a sense of challenge.

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In the learning zone, [br]there is a challenge,

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but you don't have everything[br]you need to meet that challenge.

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You may have pieces of it,

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but you need other people[br]to help you piece those things together

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and if, you get that help, you'll succeed.

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and, if you don't get that help, you'll[br]zip right through to the panic zone.

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And the panic zone is where you feel[br]alone, overwhelmed, afraid.

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You've lost confidence here.

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You can't learn here.[br]You don't function well.

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This is the head-in-hands moment.

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And the only way to move back from panic

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is to have help to get[br]into the learning zone,

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but normally, we just want to shut down[br]and go all the way back to comfort.

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Now, learning is where our most[br]transformative moments happen:

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when we meet somebody[br]who is incredibly helpful,

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or when we overcome a challenge.

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If I were to ask you when you[br]learned your most valuable lessons,

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you would talk about a challenge,

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you would talk about someone[br]who helped you through that.

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But comfort isn't a bad thing.

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In fact, the goal of learning[br]is to expand the comfort zone,

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this is where we become more confident,[br]more comfortable as we move through life,

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whatever it throws at us,[br]and not getting to the panic zone.

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So, if that's the goal of learning,

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if what we're trying to do[br]is figure out how we can be people

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who are more confident[br]no matter what life throws at us,

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how do we expand the comfort zone?

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How do we push back the panic zone?

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Now, the grand paradox[br]is that the only way to expand comfort

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is by leaving it.

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So that's what we have to figure out,

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designing the leaps that move us[br]from comfort into learning,

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and when those leaps[br]are necessary in our lives.

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How do we make space for them in our[br]education systems and our workplaces?

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So I have three hunches.[br]It starts with discovery.

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Now, discovery is just a matter[br]of asking questions:

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the question you have,[br]as you move through the day,

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about how to make something better,

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about how to increase[br]the thing that gives you hope,

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one of those moments[br]that you want to improve something,

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make something, or change something.

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Those questions begin pushing you[br]to the edge of comfort,

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in trying to figure out what things[br]you might want to do next.

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Now, as those questions[br]and hopes surface,

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the thing that happens next[br]is you begin exploring:

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"What is it I could do? How do I learn?,"[br]and defining those projects.

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Now, for some people,[br]school is the risk they take,

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they move into that setting,

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but for others, the question is,[br]"Should I try to build something?

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Should I travel or do a research project?

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Or should I just try to work[br]with an expert in the field?"

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The more specific that project becomes,

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the more parameters,[br]the time frames, the deliverables,

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the more other people can[br]start seeing what you're doing

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and you can invite them into it,[br]which leads to the second thing,

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that you need to bring other people,

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you need to invite other[br]people into learning.

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It's not a solo project.

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There is going to be times[br]when you don't know what to do,

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and you're going to need[br]the help of others.

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During Leap Year, I found myself[br]not only needing companies

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to give me a chance to work with them,

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to learn with them[br]and to create with them;

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I needed my community[br]to guide me through times

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when I got stuck,[br]or to support me emotionally.

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This included everyone[br]from my own family, my mother,

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to mentors and friends.

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This photo, the story of this photo[br]isn't that I hit the panic zone.

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The story of this photo[br]is that someone took the photo.

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They were in the room with me, right?

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They were the people who walked me[br]back from the panic zone

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into the learning zone,

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and helped me finish[br]at the end of that year.

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Now, I think there is something[br]more to community

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than just emotional support.

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I think they become our audience,

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they become the people who validate[br]and celebrate the things we learn,

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which leads to the third hunch:[br]how do we share the projects we go into,

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the things we're learning and doing?

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For me, during Leap Year,

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it was nothing more than a weekly[br]blog post, monthly newsletter

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and, at the end of the year,[br]creating a book and a presentation,

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but for you, you don't need[br]a big book or a stage.

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What you need is[br]just regular checkpoints,

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places where people can[br]see what you're working on,

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can give you feedback[br]and can celebrate when you finish.

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Discover. Invite. Share.

0:10:05.709,0:10:08.040
So, I didn't go to grad school,

0:10:08.040,0:10:12.957
but I designed one of the most[br]transformative chapters of my life.

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My comfort zone expanded,

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but, maybe more importantly,

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I learned how to navigate[br]between comfort, into learning,

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and to push on the edge of panic.

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Now, 2016 is actually[br]another leap year,

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and I think in Portuguese[br]they call this "ano bissexto,"

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where there's an extra day,[br]and there is a title to the year.

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And we're curious:

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what would happen if people in 2016[br]decided to design a project of their own,

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to move between comfort into learning,[br]to design a leap, however big or small?

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And if we do,

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whether you're in high school,[br]or college, or in a workplace,

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whatever leap you take,[br]what would happen to learning?

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What would happen to the education space

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when we realize we can[br]create learning, we can design it,

0:11:07.343,0:11:11.191
just by taking a few leaps?

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So, what leap will you take?

0:11:17.098,0:11:19.023
(Applause)