I dropped out to keep up - Students today shouldn’t have to make that choice

In the early eighties, I went to school in the USSR. Every morning, we sat in rows, eyes front, hands still. On our desks sat wooden abacuses—not relics, but the official tools for learning math.

One day, I was gifted something extraordinary: a calculator. At the time, it was a rare and deeply prized possession. Holding it felt like holding the future.

My teacher noticed. He walked over and, with the calm authority only the Soviet system could produce, said, “Don’t waste your time using the calculator. They’re hard to find and easy to break. The abacus is everywhere. And besides, you need to learn how to think.”

That moment never left me.

Not because he was wrong—but because he was loyal to a system that had stopped evolving. A system that mistook availability for relevance and standardization for wisdom.

I’ve seen the same inertia in modern education systems around the world. We’ve built institutions still shaped by industrial-age logic while the workplace has already transformed. Students are being prepared using structures that are only slightly updated—tweaked around the edges but stagnant at their core. The result is a generation at risk of being overeducated, underprepared, and unemployable in the world they’re entering.

I’VE SPENT MY LIFE BUILDING THE FUTURE. NOW I’M SOUNDING THE ALARM.

For decades, I’ve helped organizations—from Fortune 500s and startups to Olympic committees and governments—reimagine their future through emerging technologies. My career has been about identifying opportunity and accelerating transformation. I’ve also learned to spot systemic breakdowns before they explode. What’s happening in education has all the markings of one we can still prevent—if we act fast.

In the mid-1990s, I enrolled in college to study computer science. It quickly became clear that the pace of real-world innovation—especially in internet development—was far outpacing what was being taught. While professors explained outdated concepts, entrepreneurs were busy building the digital future.

So I made a choice. I dropped out—not to rebel, but to keep up. I wanted to build, not analyze what had already been built. I wanted to create, not stay stuck in theory.

In hindsight, I don’t romanticize that decision. I wish I hadn’t needed to make it. I wish the system had evolved fast enough to keep me engaged instead of forcing me out. That’s what I want for the next generation: an education system that moves at the speed of relevance—so students don’t have to choose between staying enrolled and staying ahead.

THE NUMBERS TELL THE TRUTH WE KEEP AVOIDING

Since 2010, U.S. college enrollment has dropped by more than two million students. Tuition continues to rise, even as the market shifts. Employers today want AI fluency, critical thinking, adaptability, and real-world problem-solving. They’re not looking for degrees—they’re looking for ability.

And yet, students are punished for using the same tools the workforce rewards.

If a student uses ChatGPT to help structure an argument or explore a new topic, it’s often labeled as cheating. If an analyst at a consulting firm does the same, it’s called efficiency. One gets written up. The other gets promoted.

We’re sending contradictory signals by demanding that students adapt to the real world while banning the tools they’ll need to thrive in it. It’s not just outdated. It’s actively harmful.

AI ISN’T THE PROBLEM. EDUCATION’S REFUSAL TO EVOLVE IS.

Degrees once signaled potential. They were shorthand for competence, persistence, and professional readiness. But that shorthand no longer holds. Students know this. That’s why they’re turning to bootcamps, certificates, and platforms that teach what’s actually needed. They’re building portfolios, learning from real creators, and developing skills at a speed traditional systems can’t match.

Yet when they bring that initiative into classrooms, it’s often penalized. Resourcefulness is labeled dishonesty. Creativity is dismissed as rule-breaking. The system still rewards conformity while the world celebrates agility. We are discouraging the very behaviors that define success in the real world.

AI didn’t break education—it exposed its cracks. It showed us how reliant we’ve become on memorization, how slow we’ve been to adapt curriculum, and how afraid we are to let go of control.

While students use AI to code, write, visualize, and simulate, many schools are still debating whether these tools even belong in the classroom. This isn’t a conversation about tools. It’s a question of leadership and whether our institutions are willing to shift before they get left behind.

3 THINGS EVERY EDUCATION LEADER MUST DO NOW

1. Train Every Educator In AI

AI shouldn’t be confined to IT departments or elective tracks. Every teacher, professor, and administrator should understand how to integrate AI into their teaching—how to model it, challenge it, and guide students through it.

2. Incorporate AI Into The Curriculum As A Tool—Not A Subject

Students should be using AI in every subject area: writing, research, science, math, history, design. AI should become as normal as a calculator or a web browser. It’s not about adding content; it’s about changing the way content is engaged.

3. Build Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

We must move beyond job training. The best education systems will encourage students to become creators, founders, and collaborators. That means building partnerships with local startups, global companies, VCs, and nonprofits to create opportunities students can step into before they graduate.

I’m not writing this from the sidelines. I’ve worked with brilliant professors, fearless administrators, and forward-thinking deans who are fighting to shift their institutions from the inside. I’ve learned from them. And as a father, I want my kids—Matthew and Zachary—to grow up in a world where those educators are empowered, not restricted.

But let’s be honest: We’re asking students to follow a path that even we don’t believe in anymore. We tell ourselves we’re preparing them for the future, but the truth is, that future has already outpaced us. In many cases, we haven’t even caught up to the present.

The institutions willing to acknowledge this—and act—will shape the next generation of leaders, inventors, and thinkers.Those that don’t will become cautionary tales of what happens when relevance is ignored and courage is postponed.

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Want to help your organization navigate the future of AI and learning? Alex Goryachev leads AI innovation workshops and AI keynote presentations that equip leaders with the clarity and tools to act — not just react.