A Slice with 'Dice

As selective college admissions continues to shift, strong students and families need to understand not only how to build a strong application—but how colleges interpret genuine interest.In this jumbo-sized episode, Corey Alderdice explores why “demonstrated interest” may play a greater role in the upcoming admissions cycle, especially as some selective universities move away from traditional supplemental essays and as application numbers continue to rise. Building on the previous episode’s look at recent changes in selective admissions, this conversation goes deeper into the practical realities behind the process: how colleges think about yield, why some institutions want stronger signals that admitted students are likely to enroll, and how families can approach the process thoughtfully without turning it into a game.With summer underway, now is the perfect time for students and families to begin diving into the many moving pieces of college admissions. From building a balanced college list to researching which schools track demonstrated interest, attending official admissions events, using early application plans wisely, and preparing for possible deferrals or waitlists, this episode offers practical guidance for making interest visible in ways that are authentic, appropriate, and student-led.The goal is not to manufacture enthusiasm or chase every admissions tactic. It is to begin with fit, understand the technical landscape, and help students communicate clearly when a college is more than just another name on the list.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Why did Tulane drop its “Why Tulane?” essay—and what does that tell us about where college admissions is heading? The change may seem small, but it points to a larger shift from what students say about fit to what their application behavior reveals.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how colleges are increasingly reading demonstrated interest through behavioral signals like Early Action, Early Decision, campus engagement, timing, and enrollment predictability. Using Tulane as a case study, this episode considers why the old “love letter” essay may matter less in an era of application inflation, AI-assisted writing, and sophisticated yield management.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Dual enrollment and early college programs have rapidly shifted from specialized opportunities into a defining feature of modern American education. Students are earning college credit earlier than ever before, but the rise of acceleration is also raising deeper questions about quality, purpose, pressure, and what education is ultimately supposed to become.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, previews this special Summer School series exploring how acceleration became normalized, why achievement is increasingly measured through accumulation, and how the growing overlap between high school and college may fundamentally reshape the future purpose of higher education itself.Learn more about the current landscape of college-level learning in high school in the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnership's report Beyond Rigor: Closing the Quality Gap in State Dual Enrollment Policy.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Clarity doesn’t make a school easier—but it does make it more trustworthy. And in selective environments, that difference matters more than we often admit.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores what it would mean to design schools with trust in mind from the very beginning. Building on the tension between trust and power in higher education, this episode turns to selective high schools as a proving ground—places where questions of fairness, rigor, access, and student experience aren’t theoretical, but lived in real time. The conversation moves beyond admissions mechanics to something deeper: purpose, alignment, and the responsibility institutions carry to make their intentions legible to the students and families they serve.At the center is a simple but demanding idea: nothing about a school experience should come as a surprise. Not the pace, not the expectations, not the challenges. And if it does, that’s not a failure of the student—it’s a failure of the institution to explain itself clearly. This episode offers a framework for thinking differently about selective education, not as something to defend after the fact, but as something to design with clarity, coherence, and trust at the core.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Higher education doesn’t have a messaging problem—it has a trust problem. And the more openly institutions acknowledge that reality, the more complicated the path forward becomes.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the tension at the heart of higher education’s current moment. Using the recent report from Yale University as a starting point, this episode examines what happens when elite institutions name concerns about cost, fairness, transparency, and academic rigor—not as outside criticism, but as internal reflection. The conversation moves beyond the report itself to consider a deeper question: whether colleges and universities can meaningfully rebuild trust without giving up the very mechanisms that have long defined their power and prestige.As peer institutions signal agreement but hesitate to act, a paradox emerges. The honesty required to restore credibility can also fuel external criticism and internal caution, creating a narrow path between defensiveness and reform. This episode sets the stage for a broader conversation—not just about higher education, but about any selective system navigating the balance between excellence, access, and public trust.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A Teacher Appreciation Week meme campaign from the U.S. Department of Education may have been designed for engagement, but its fictional teacher choices revealed something deeper about how educators are feeling right now. Beneath the nostalgia and internet humor is a surprisingly honest portrait of exhaustion, dedication, passion, and the desire to be heard.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how characters like Ms. Frizzle, Mrs. Puff, Elizabeth Hoover, Miss Nelson, and Ms. Fowl became more than simple appreciation graphics—and why sometimes the subtext accidentally tells the truth.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Curiosity isn’t disappearing from higher education—it’s being squeezed by cost, structure, and the pressure to get it right the first time. But what if the very tools designed to accelerate students could instead give that curiosity room to breathe?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how the argument that colleges have stopped rewarding curiosity intersects with the rise of early college experiences like Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, and concurrent credit. Rather than treating accumulated credits as a fast track to graduation, this episode reframes them as a form of academic margin—space that allows students to double major, study abroad, pursue internships, and explore disciplines without the constant pressure of efficiency. At the center of the conversation is a fundamental question: are we designing systems that push students to finish faster, or ones that allow them to experience more?For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some students grow up surrounded by opportunity so constantly that college feels like the next obvious step. For many small-town and rural students, though, the challenge is not a lack of talent, but the quieter difficulty of seeing ambitious futures clearly enough to believe they are truly within reach.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the work of the STARS College Network and why helping rural students aspire matters so much. This episode examines the idea of aspiration gaps, the powerful message students receive when institutions make clear they are wanted and valued, and the many strengths rural students already bring with them. Corey also reflects on why this work is about more than college access alone. It is about belonging, visibility, and making sure geography does not quietly determine the size of a young person’s future.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Belonging cannot be a boutique advantage.If mentorship, purpose, depth, and engagement truly predict long-term success, then designing for belonging isn’t a marketing strategy — it’s a moral obligation.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the tension between schools of choice and traditional community schools, asking whether belonging-rich environments are easier to build in smaller, mission-driven models — and what it would take to scale them more broadly.Belonging is not sentimental. It is strategic infrastructure.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Schedule is never just about time. Assessment is never just about grades. If belonging truly predicts thriving, then the real question is whether our systems are aligned to produce it.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores how the S.P.A.C.E. framework from Stanford’s Challenge Success initiative (Schedule, Purpose, Assessment, Culture, and Engagement) provides a structural blueprint for designing schools where students are known, challenged deeply, and connected to purpose.Belonging is not accidental. It is operational.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Belonging isn’t a soft idea. It’s a structural one.What if the strongest predictors of long-term success in college — and life — have less to do with prestige and more to do with experience?Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the 2015 Gallup–Purdue research identifying six undergraduate experiences that directly correlate with graduating on time and thriving beyond college. Rather than focusing on rankings or selectivity, the findings point to relational depth, sustained intellectual challenge, applied learning, and meaningful engagement as the true drivers of success.If success is built through belonging, then belonging isn’t accidental — it’s designed.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Masculinity is being optimized, marketed, and polarized in real time. But what if the real work is slower and more integrated?Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the modern crisis among young men through the lens of fatherhood, literature, and cultural commentary. Drawing on contemporary conversations about male drift and revisiting high school texts like The Old Man and the Sea and A Farewell to Arms, this episode examines the tension between surface-level “looksmaxxing” and the mythic endurance often associated with Ernest Hemingway.Rather than romanticizing or rejecting traditional masculine codes, Corey considers what adolescent boys truly need today: courage without isolation, resilience without emotional withdrawal, and strength that connects rather than calcifies. This episode offers a thoughtful reflection for parents, educators, and anyone invested in helping young men find balance in a noisy cultural landscape.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A ringing phone. A Saturday school. A moment that opens up a much bigger conversation about rules, responsibility, and what schools are really trying to protect.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores how the growing movement to restrict cell phone use in schools—both in Arkansas and across the country—reflects deeper questions about school culture, student trust, and the balance between consistency and grace. Drawing from a personal parenting moment, current legislation, and insights from The Anxious Generation, this episode examines why phone-free classrooms have gained momentum, how parents and educators are responding, and whether the consequences attached to these policies are shaping compliance—or something more meaningful.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

What if one of the most powerful skills a teenager could develop didn’t come from textbooks or test prep, but from the ability to quietly read the room? In Korean culture, this skill is called nunchi—a subtle kind of social radar that helps people sense, adapt, and connect more deeply with others.Corey Alderdice, national voice on talent and transformation, explores how nunchi, often described as the art of timing and awareness, can be a superpower for today’s high school students. From navigating friendships to leading with empathy, nunchi offers teens a practical way to strengthen relationships, avoid drama, and build trust. Drawing inspiration from pop culture and everyday school life, this episode makes the case for why cultivating nunchi might be just as important as any grade on a transcript.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Creativity isn’t enrichment. It’s infrastructure. And if we misunderstand that, we misunderstand the future of our economy.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores why arts education must be reframed as workforce education — not as a defense of the arts, but as a recognition of their economic power. In light of receiving the Governor’s Arts Award for Arts in Education, this episode pivots from personal reflection to a broader argument: arts education builds creative capital, and creative capital drives economic growth.Drawing from research on Arkansas’s creative economy and lessons from leading a public residential STEM-and-arts high school, Corey challenges narrow definitions of workforce preparation and argues that ambiguity tolerance, iteration, aesthetic judgment, collaboration, and narrative construction are not “soft skills” — they are survival skills in a volatile, innovation-driven economy.If Arkansas wants to compete in the decades ahead, it must invest not only in technical training, but in the cultivation of imagination. This episode invites educators, policymakers, and business leaders to rethink how we speak about — and fund — the arts.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Why does belonging matter so much for student success?In this teaser, Corey Alderdice introduces a three-part series exploring the role of belonging in education, beginning with research from Gallup and Purdue showing its connection to college completion and long-term success.The series will examine how those insights translate to high school environments, how the S.P.A.C.E. framework from Stanford’s Challenge Success initiative highlights the systems that shape belonging, and why creating schools where students feel known, connected, and engaged should be a priority across all educational models.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

The word abundance surged into the spotlight in 2025, not because schools suddenly had more time, energy, or flexibility—but because educators sensed that something in our systems was no longer keeping pace with human potential. Now, abundance becomes less of a buzzword and more of a leadership challenge worth examining.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores why abundance has gained traction in education, how scarcity thinking quietly shapes school culture and leadership behavior, and what it would mean to redesign schools so opportunity is cultivated rather than rationed. The episode reflects on the difference between pressure and possibility, the role of leaders as system designers rather than gatekeepers, and the shift from identifying talent to intentionally developing it—offering a thoughtful lens on how schools can make room for more learning, more growth, and more sustainable excellence in the years ahead.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some books don’t just age well—they grow with us. What feels like a simple story in adolescence can become something far more layered when revisited with experience.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores why Jonathan Livingston Seagull felt like an odd—perhaps overly ambitious—choice for an 8th grade honors entrance exam, and why he now appreciates that decision decades later. Revisiting the book after years of lived experience, Corey reflects on how the story shifts from a meditation on identity and nonconformity to something deeper: the pursuit of mastery, the loneliness of excellence, and the cost of moving to the next stage of growth.This episode considers how certain texts scale with the reader—revealing new insights as we change. What once felt aspirational now feels honest. What once centered on standing out now centers on discipline, humility, and the quiet work of becoming better.  Ultimately, Corey asks a powerful question for students, educators, and leaders alike: What are you willing to leave behind in order to grow?For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Leadership doesn’t end when the account runs dry—it continues through the returns others generate from your investment. In this final installment of the trilogy, Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores The Leadership Dividend, the enduring impact of choices, values, and relationships that keep paying out long after a leader steps away. He reflects on how wise leaders move from spending capital to cultivating culture, from managing balance sheets to compounding trust, and how the truest measure of success lies not in control, but in continuity.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

When students walk out of class in protest, it can look simple from the outside: young people raising their voices in a democracy. Inside a school, however, those moments are layered with legal guardrails, legislative constraints, and the obligation to treat every viewpoint the same.Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the recent student walkouts in Pulaski, Garland, and other Arkansas counties related to ICE actions and uses them as a lens to unpack the complexity school leaders face in responding. Grounded in the Supreme Court’s decision in Tinker v. Des Moines and Arkansas’s 2025 ACCESS Act, he reflects on one of the most difficult weeks of his own leadership during the 2018 national walkouts following the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Marshall County High School, and Heath High School — events that were deeply personal to him.This episode invites students and parents to better understand the constraints public institutions operate within, offers practical guidance for civic engagement inside school systems, and argues that while outcomes will often be misunderstood, fairness and consistent process must remain the goal.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Achievement often overshadows everything else in the lives of gifted and talented students. But what if their deepest need isn’t to achieve more, but to know they truly matter? Drawing on the work of Jennifer Breheny Wallace and the psychology of “mattering,” this episode explores how educators can reframe success for advanced learners. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, unpacks the research behind achievement culture, explains why gifted students are especially vulnerable to it, and challenges schools to build communities where students are valued not just for what they do, but for who they are.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A single sharp moment can hijack an entire school day—but it doesn’t have to. What if educators got just as intentional about what lifts students up as we are about what sets them off?Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the emerging concept of “glimmers”—small, everyday experiences that spark calm, joy, gratitude, and connection—and why they matter in classrooms that are often built to manage stress rather than cultivate well-being. This episode reframes the work from merely reducing negative triggers to actively designing conditions for positive emotional resilience. Along the way, Corey highlights practical, low-cost ways educators can seed glimmers through consistent micro-moments: greeting students by name, noticing effort, offering gentle encouragement, and creating routines that make belonging feel real. The result is a simple but powerful shift—helping students (and adults) train their brains to spot what’s good, even on hard days, and making school a place that doesn’t just endure, but affirms.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Leaders spend their days managing visible accounts—trust, goodwill, and influence—but the balance that truly determines their longevity is often hidden from view. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the idea of a Personal Capital Reserve, or what he calls the Second Balance Sheet—the reservoir of energy, identity, and relationships that sustains leaders beyond their professional role. He discusses how wise leaders protect this reserve through intentional boundaries, steady deposits of time and presence, and the discipline to separate personal worth from institutional success. Ultimately, the second balance sheet reminds us that the work endures only if the leader remains whole.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some lessons never make it into the textbook—but they can make or break a student’s future. The most gifted learners often know the material, but not the system that surrounds it.Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the concept of the “hidden curriculum” and how its unspoken rules—everything from navigating office hours to figuring out which opportunities actually matter—can be the missing link for high-ability students from low-income or rural backgrounds. This episode digs into why raw intelligence isn’t enough, how opportunity is shaped more by exposure than ability, and why “it lives in context, not content.” Through candid reflection and grounded insight, Corey challenges educators and leaders to rethink how we support gifted students who aren’t just underserved academically, but under-resourced strategically.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Early adulthood was supposed to feel like launch—but for many seniors, it feels more like freefall. That unsettling mix of possibility and pressure has a name, and understanding it is the first step toward feeling less alone. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the concept of the quarterlife crisis as a powerful framework for high school and college seniors beginning to wonder who they are, where they’re going, and why the next chapter feels so uncertain. Drawing on insights from The Atlantic, Mark Waid’s Superman: Birthright, and the novels of Nick Hornby, this episode reframes the crisis as a natural part of emerging adulthood—less a breakdown than a crossroads, where identity, meaning, and agency begin to take shape.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Winter break offers juniors something they rarely get during the school year: breathing room. Amid the quiet, students can take their first meaningful steps toward understanding who they are and what they want from the college journey ahead. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how reflection, early exploration, and intentional rest can help juniors align their interests with future opportunities. He discusses how taking stock of extracurriculars, surveying potential colleges, imagining new ways to deepen or expand involvement, reviewing academic footing, and beginning to uncover personal narrative threads can set the stage for a strong senior year. This episode offers a calm, grounded roadmap for students—and the adults who support them—who want to use winter break not as a pressure point, but as a chance to reset, rediscover clarity, and move forward with purpose.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some conversations age well because the need behind them never really goes away. As students and schools end the fall semester gear up for a new semester in 2026, this encore episode arrives at exactly the right moment.ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the deeper dynamics of student well-being, academic pressure, and school culture in this revisit from Season One. This timely rebroadcast examines the forces that shape how students experience rigor, rest, identity, and expectations—and why leaders must think intentionally about the environments they create. Whether you caught it the first time or are tuning in fresh, this conversation offers perspective worth carrying into the months ahead.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Gifted students don’t disengage because they don’t care—they disengage because they’re ready for more than their environment is offering. When we learn to interpret dissatisfaction as a signal instead of a problem, everything about how we see gifted learners begins to shift.In this bonus episode, Corey Alderdice explores the full arc of the Catalytic Agency Model of Talent Development—from the satisfaction gap and the intentionalities of Eclipse, Evolve, and Escape to the student paradigms, the levers of practice, and the central idea of Catalytic Agency. This winter-break reflection offers a concise and narrative overview of the framework for those who want the highlights, while inviting listeners to revisit the six-part series, explore the student screener and educator rubric, and consider how specialized and residential schools uniquely support the students whose dissatisfaction signals their greatest potential.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

The smell of bacon has a way of pulling people out of their rooms and into the same shared space, no invitation required. In this special, Christmas-themed episode, a glitter-covered strip of bacon hanging on a tree becomes a surprisingly fitting symbol for what the season is really about.ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how a family joke about ribbon-candy ornaments evolved into the “Christmas bacon,” the final ornament placed on the tree each year, and why bacon itself makes sense as a metaphor for the holiday spirit. Drawing on memories of large Christmas Eve breakfasts filled with Southern staples and extended family gathered shoulder to shoulder, the episode reflects on how food, scent, and shared rituals create anticipation, togetherness, and belonging. Along the way, Alderdice considers how traditions are rarely planned but instead accumulate meaning over time, carrying memory, laughter, and connection from one generation to the next. The result is a playful yet reflective reminder that Christmas is built less from perfection and polish, and more from warmth, community, and the small traditions that quietly anchor us to one another.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some stories don’t end; they simply turn the page. And sometimes the chapters that shape us most are the ones we never expected to write.For the last time this season, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the winding path that led him into gifted education, the challenges and triumphs of thirteen and a half years at the helm of one of the nation’s top STEM schools, and the lessons learned along the way. This reflective episode traces his journey from an accidental summer job that changed everything to the statewide impact of ASMSA’s transformation—from campus rebuilding to expanded opportunities in computer science, global learning, and accelerated pathways for Arkansas students.With a focus on storytelling, intentional leadership, and the quiet work that sustains institutions long after any one person steps aside, this season finale looks back with gratitude and forward with curiosity. While the podcast continues, this chapter closes with a deep appreciation for the students, colleagues, and communities that made the work meaningful—and a thoughtful look at what comes next.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some days it only takes one email, one phone call, or one weird surprise to knock your whole mood off track—but what if the real power lies in how you respond, not what you face? What if the difference between burnout and balance is just a tiny shift in your default setting?ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how school leaders—and really anyone—can redirect their automatic reactions from irritation to curiosity, trading energy drain for emotional sustainability. Drawing on metaphors from firefighting, the concept of eustress, and the idea of “microwins” in leadership, this episode reframes the everyday frustrations of school life and offers a simple but powerful invitation: shift one notch from annoyed to amused, and the entire day might change.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Generative AI isn’t on the horizon anymore—it’s already reshaping the academic landscape. The challenge now isn’t avoiding it, but deciding how we respond with purpose and integrity.ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the school’s recent survey findings, the community’s wide-ranging concerns, and how ASMSA’s partnership with Challenge Success positions the institution to lead in developing ethical, mission-aligned approaches to AI. He reframes the conversation away from fear and fatigue, focusing instead on curiosity, clarity, and the values that have defined ASMSA for more than three decades.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some leadership debates feel theoretical—until someone throws your own words back at you months later. This episode unpacks what happens when a simple remark becomes a mirror for how we understand responsibility, vision, and the work leaders are actually called to do.ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the tension between vision and accountability, how a casual comment resurfaced with unexpected weight, and why the best leadership isn’t about choosing one over the other but learning to hold both with integrity. The episode reflects on stewardship, aspiration, and the quiet balancing act required of leaders who want their work to matter.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

The end of the Farmer’s Almanac marks more than the close of a quirky American tradition—it symbolizes our timeless need to find patterns in the unpredictable. From zodiac signs to personality tests, we keep searching for order in life’s chaos.ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how the human desire to forecast meaning connects everything from the Farmer’s Almanac to modern leadership frameworks. Drawing from his own rural upbringing, he reflects on why we lean on systems—both mystical and managerial—to make sense of uncertainty, and what that means for educators and school leaders striving to balance data with intuition, planning with presence, and science with art.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

We’ve reached the point where comfort has become the new currency in education—and it’s bankrupting student resilience. What if the accommodations we’re offering aren’t helping students cope, but quietly teaching them to avoid life itself?ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how well-intentioned supports can turn into permanent crutches, why scaffolding should be temporary, and how educators can help students build real, lasting structures of confidence and capability instead of relying on protection that never fades.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some people call gifted kids “weird,” but maybe that’s just what it looks like when someone’s brain refuses to color inside the lines. What if the thing that makes them different is exactly what the world needs more of?ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores why gifted students are so often misunderstood, how divergent thinking shapes their perception of the world, and why curiosity and intensity should be seen as creative assets—not social oddities.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Equity in gifted education requires more than resources — it begins with listening carefully to dissatisfaction across all student groups. Policies and practices must ensure that every intentionality is met with the right opportunities.In episode six of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice draws the series to a close by connecting the Catalytic Agency Model to equity and policy. He argues that while Transitional students are often visible, Transformational, Typical, and especially Catalytic students are more easily overlooked unless schools and systems intentionally listen to dissatisfaction as signal. This episode emphasizes why policy must expand beyond test-based measures to include mentoring, belonging, and specialized environments. Special attention is given to the role of residential schools as equity engines, serving rural, low-income, and first-generation students whose dissatisfaction cannot be met in traditional settings. The series concludes with a call for educators, leaders, and policymakers to protect and expand these opportunities, treating dissatisfaction as the clearest guide for transformation.Learn more about the Catalytic Agency model of talent development.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some students demand more than piecemeal solutions — their dissatisfaction is comprehensive, spanning rigor, belonging, and context. These Catalytic students are rare, but when matched with the right environments, they can transform themselves and their schools.In episode five of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the concept of Catalytic Agency in depth, positioning it as the heart of the model and a new way of thinking about gifted education. He explains how Catalytic Agency differs from traditional theories that focus solely on traits or test scores by centering the interaction between student dissatisfaction and the learning environment. This episode argues that specialized and residential schools exist precisely because they provide the holistic mix of acceleration, elevation, and separation that Catalytic students require. Listeners will see why these students both challenge and justify the structures we build to support gifted learners.Learn more about the Catalytic Agency model of talent development.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Recognizing dissatisfaction is only half the work; the other half is knowing how to act on it. Schools can respond with three core levers — but only when sequenced wisely do these interventions close satisfaction gaps.In episode four of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the three levers of practice — acceleration, elevation, and separation — that educators can use to respond to dissatisfaction. Drawing from classroom and program examples, he explains how acceleration raises ceilings for students seeking rigor, how elevation affirms identity for those craving belonging, and how separation provides new contexts for students needing freedom from misfit environments. This episode also highlights the risks of mis-sequencing these interventions and offers insights into how schools can apply them not only to individual students but at the systems and policy levels.Learn more about the Catalytic Agency model of talent development.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

When intentionalities blend, they form distinct paradigms of student experience — each carrying its own risks and opportunities. Understanding these blends can help educators design responses that truly match students’ needs.In episode three of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice examines the three main paradigms of student experience — Transitional, Transformational, and Typical — before introducing Catalytic Agency as the integrative force at the center. He illustrates how Transitional students combine hunger for rigor with the need for affirmation, how Transformational students blend belonging with the desire to escape, and how Typical students mix restlessness with the search for new contexts. By understanding these paradigms, educators gain sharper insight into why students pursue specialized opportunities and how schools can more carefully sequence support.Learn more about the Catalytic Agency model of talent development.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Students express dissatisfaction in different ways — some want more rigor, others long for belonging, while still others need a whole new context. Recognizing these intentionalities helps educators respond with precision rather than guesswork.In episode two of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the three intentionalities that shape student dissatisfaction: Eclipse, Evolve, and Escape. Through vivid examples, he shows how Eclipse students hunger for harder challenges, Evolve students crave affirmation and belonging, and Escape students need freedom from stifling environments. This episode emphasizes why listening carefully to dissatisfaction helps schools move beyond one-size-fits-all solutions and design responses that match what students are actually seeking.Learn more about the Catalytic Agency model of talent development.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Every student has moments of restlessness in school, but what if that dissatisfaction isn’t a problem to solve — what if it’s the clearest sign of readiness to grow? By reframing dissatisfaction as a signal, educators can uncover hidden pathways of student agency.In episode one of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the idea of the “satisfaction gap” — the distance between what students are experiencing and what they believe they need to thrive. Rather than silencing boredom, withdrawal, or frustration, this episode reframes those behaviors as signals of readiness. Educators will come away with a new perspective on dissatisfaction as a catalyst for growth and as the essential starting point for talent development.Learn more about the Catalytic Agency model of talent development.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

For many juniors, the PSAT feels like a dress rehearsal for the SAT—a low-stakes warm-up that doesn’t really matter. But hidden behind that “practice” label is one of the biggest scholarship opportunities in high school.ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores why students shouldn’t blow off the PSAT this October, unpacking how it serves as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and why that distinction matters. He explains how the National Merit Index Score differs from the standard PSAT score, why the English and verbal sections count twice as much toward qualification, and what’s really at stake for those aiming to earn National Merit recognition. Whether you’re a test-taker, a parent, or an educator, this episode offers clear insight into how one morning of effort could open doors to major college scholarships and academic distinction.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

In school, failure is often treated as something to be avoided at all costs. But what if failure is actually the very thing that unlocks growth?ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice reflects on his recent training journey with former world champion arm wrestler Monster Michael Todd, drawing parallels between strength training and the growth mindset educators seek to instill in students. Along the way, he explores how small, incremental progress matters more than sweeping changes, why failure can be a teacher, and how persistence shapes both physical and academic growth.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Why do gifted, talented, and motivated students leave behind the comfort of home, their local schools, and the friends and teachers they’ve known for years to take on something more demanding and more challenging? The answer, at its heart, comes down to dissatisfaction.In this six-part special series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice introduces the Catalytic Agency Model of Talent Development, a new framework shaped by two decades of working with gifted learners. Across the episodes, he explores dissatisfaction as a signal of student agency, the intentionalities of Eclipse, Evolve, and Escape, and how these combine into paradigms of student experience. He unpacks the practical levers of acceleration, elevation, and separation, then devotes a full episode to Catalytic Agency itself — the rare but powerful state of comprehensive dissatisfaction that makes specialized and residential schools not just valuable, but essential.The series concludes with a call to educators, leaders, and policymakers: listen to dissatisfaction, honor student intentionality, and ensure that schools and systems are ready to respond.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

College admissions come with a dictionary’s worth of terms, but not all pathways are created equal. From binding commitments to open access, each one shapes the journey differently.ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the major types of college admissions—Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision, Rolling Admission, and more—breaking down what each option means, who they work best for, and how students can navigate them with clarity and confidence.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

College and scholarship essays shouldn’t read like résumés in disguise. They should read like a small, true story that changed how you see the world—told clearly, humbly, and in your own voice.In this double-sized episode, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores five guiding questions to help you choose a specific scene in context, blend action with reflection, echo your opening in the close, and connect your growth to goals and concrete college fit—so admissions and scholarship readers remember you for the right reasons.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

No clip show. No celebrity drop-ins. No tear-filled montage set to soft piano. Just slice number 100 served hot and ready.ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice looks back and ahead, exploring the threads that have shaped the podcast so far and why the best conversations are still to come.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Prestige TV has given us a new metaphor for education: Surf Dracula. The idea comes from a viral critique of shows that delay their own premise—spending entire seasons on backstory before ever letting the main character do the thing the audience tuned in for. In education, we fall into the same trap when students are told to sit through endless setup before they ever get to “surf” for themselves. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how the Surf Dracula problem shows up in classrooms, why delayed payoff can leave students disengaged, and how educators can create opportunities for students to catch waves of authentic learning earlier and more often.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

In its first year, AP Precalculus drew over 184,000 students — the largest launch in AP history — and reached learners often left out of advanced math. It’s opening doors for first-generation, Black, Hispanic, rural, and later-starting students who didn’t take Algebra I or Geometry in middle school.  ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how the course is reshaping the calculus pathway. For younger students, it’s a springboard to AP Calculus and other STEM classes; for seniors, a rigorous capstone that builds confidence before college. Teachers praise its design, accessibility, and real-world impact, marking AP Precalculus as more than a new course — it’s a redefinition of who gets to pursue higher-level math.For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.