What Challenge Do You Need?
The special- and often frustrating- truth about the Hero’s Journey is that it tends to present us with the exact challenges we need. Since our environment is grounded in this philosophy, and immerses learners in the messy, unpredictable complexities of the real world, the Ascent experience mirrors that journey. It offers each person- learner, guide, and parent alike- the very challenges required for their own growth.
Need a lesson in compromise? Try sitting in a circle with 35 peers, deciding together what a helpful work environment sounds like, and co-creating the systems to build it.
Need a lesson in flexibility? Try working with a group of peers- all with different skills, abilities, and experience- on a science experiment that fails, with only a week left to pivot.
Need a lesson in navigating ambiguity? Try keeping track of evolving accountability systems grounded not in rules, but in a shared promise like “I will keep my studio sacred.”
Need a lesson in empathy? Try pausing your own goals to teach math to a frustrated younger peer who’s on the verge of giving up.
Need a lesson in courage? Try feeling embarrassed about not yet knowing how to read, and then still asking for help.
Need a lesson in patience and control? Try leading a group project during a moment of cultural collapse in a studio you love deeply.
Need a lesson in work ethic? Try setting a personal goal that matters, then learning to focus despite distractions in a space you don’t fully control.
What we are offering is a dynamic environment where young people can get reps in navigating the complexities of the real world. The learners- who are fully capable of doing so- create clarity, find new pathways, negotiate, and adapt. They’re not guided step-by-step through uncertainty; they’re invited to stay in it, trust themselves, and emerge stronger.
These aren’t simulations. They’re not artificial “preparation” for the real world. They are the real world. The studio is a living, breathing training ground where young people practice the mindsets needed to thrive- not just later, but now.
That said, it’s not all grit and challenge. When you step onto campus, you’ll hear laughter. You’ll see butterflies. You’ll sense joy and connection. The “real world” includes magic, too.
But the deeper truth remains: everyone who joins this journey gets what they need—even when it’s not what they expected.
And it’s not just for the learners. When children are challenged, they challenge their parents, too. And we think that is a GREAT thing. Heard from the adults in our community- here are ways they’ve been challenged:
Facing the monsters of victimhood, resistance, and distraction in work, home, and in parenting.
Facing the discomfort of letting go of control- and learning to stay steady in the unknown.
Discovering misalignments in day-to-day life with their own values- and choosing to realign.
Identifying projections when their memories colored their reaction to their child’s experiences- and deciding to break the cycle.
Holding boundaries with more grace, even when tempted to bend them.
Separating performance from self-worth.
Doing hard things with a heroic mindset and discovering new levels of problem-solving.
Choosing curiosity over fear. And even acknowledging that while they bought into curiosity, they weren’t actually choosing to be curious.
This is what it means to live a Hero’s Journey together. Not just to celebrate growth, but to wrestle with it and to be changed by it. And this is critical because we are empowering young people to grow into confident, capable and clear adults who can face the rapidly changing future with confidence and excitement, not fear and scarcity.
And so we ask again:
What challenge do you need?