You've Never Lived a Fraction of Your Life, Right?

Bell: We put this much pressure on people to make choices about their entire lives when they've lived a fraction of it. Kids up until around seven, eight, nine years old, they just play, right? They just play and experience the world, the process of it. Around fifth and sixth grade, they go from play to performance because they get this idea that like, okay, I'm playing for keeps now my grades matter, my standardized test scores matter. What I do as a seventh or eighth grader can influence the trajectory and the opportunities I have as I get older," she says.