Taking the Leap

Reggie Leonard - Associate Director for University of Virginia School of Data Science

Sep 23, 2020

01:32:36

“I always think there is so much more to see. I’m so excited to be alive, and there is always potential to be cultivated.” - Reggie Leonard

Reggie Leonard is an education, tech, and learning fanatic. He’s a young millennial leader influencing the way we think about education, technology, AI, and the entire learning process. Reggie received his undergraduate degree from Bowie State University where he was the treasurer and founding member of the men’s soccer club. He attended Liberty University following, and he got his Master’s degree in Counseling. Today, he works at the University of Virginia, and he serves as the Associate Director for Career Connections and Community Engagement for the School of Data Science and Engineering.

Bob and Reggie don’t waste a minute as they dive right into the heart of education and how it’s changing especially with the onset of COVID-19. They discuss the paradigms of education and learning, and they have an interesting dialogue about how it’s changing and what the future could really hold. Together, they banter back and forth about insights they’re learning and influencing in today’s world.

Notes and Quotes:

Make sure that the decisions you’re making are in line with the vision for your life. The earlier you ask the questions about who and how you want to be in the world, the more defined your path and direction will be.

For those that don’t have strong social capital or access to opportunity, college is a great opportunity for that. To not go to college is to have a sense of resilience and ingenuity. Our education system hasn’t trained people in that way, it’s trained them to check the boxes. College is the most linear.

Imagine living in a world where you can never take your shoes off. It’s one thing to have protection on your feet, and it’s another to feel safe taking off your shoes and can kick back. There is efficacy in creating safe spaces - comfort, belonging, camaraderie. There is a difference between peace keeping and peace making.

“People are easy to hate from a distance, move in.” - Brene Brown

That’s the word -- strengthen and practice. The way to be great at something is to practice something. We don’t often think about practicing things like resilience or having enough or being uncomfortable and learning how to operate like that. We don’t seek that out nor fully exist presently while we experience them.