Work-based learning is a game changer. It's like test driving a

“Work-based learning is a game changer. It’s like test driving a career, and I have seen it in action with our registered apprenticeship programs for high school students.” – Kim Reynolds

In this statement, Kim Reynolds, a leader of vision and practicality, speaks with the wisdom of one who understands that knowledge without experience is like a sword still sheathed — full of potential, yet untested in the world. Her words illuminate the sacred harmony between learning and doing, between study and practice. To her, work-based learning is not simply a tool for education, but a transformation — a “game changer,” she calls it, a force that bridges the gap between dream and reality. It is the art of preparing young minds not only to know their path, but to walk it with purpose and confidence.

The origin of this truth arises from the deep and enduring need for wisdom that is lived, not merely taught. In an age where education often resides in books and classrooms, Reynolds champions a return to learning through experience — through the sweat of the hands, the discipline of the craft, and the awakening of the spirit that comes from laboring toward mastery. Her apprenticeship programs for students are not mere policies; they are the modern reflection of an ancient truth known to every guild, every scholar, every craftsman of old: that to learn by doing is to engrave knowledge upon the soul.

The ancients knew this well. In the temples of Egypt, in the workshops of Greece, and in the forges of medieval Europe, the apprentice was not a student in the ordinary sense, but a traveler on the sacred path toward excellence. He would stand beside the master, learning not only skill but patience, integrity, and pride in one’s work. Through trial and error, he discovered his strengths and his calling. The Greeks called this “praxis” — the marriage of theory and action, where wisdom comes alive. What Reynolds calls “test driving a career” is but the modern form of this timeless initiation: the chance to see, to touch, to live the truth of one’s labor before the journey of life has fully begun.

There is a story of Leonardo da Vinci, who, as a boy, was sent to apprentice under the great artist Verrocchio. It was there, mixing paints and sculpting clay, that his genius began to bloom. Had Leonardo remained a mere observer, he might have been clever but uninspired. It was through work-based learning, through the tactile world of craft and experiment, that he discovered not just art, but himself. When he painted the angel in his master’s work The Baptism of Christ, Verrocchio is said to have laid down his brush, awed by the talent of his pupil. Thus we see the truth of Reynolds’ words — that experience reveals destiny, and hands-on learning awakens hidden greatness.

Reynolds’ insight also speaks to a greater truth about youth and purpose. So often, the young are told what they should do, but rarely are they given the chance to try. They are taught facts, but not meaning; theories, but not impact. Work-based learning gives them a mirror — a chance to see who they are when tested by reality. It grants them confidence, showing that knowledge is not a mountain to climb but a bridge to cross. It turns uncertainty into direction, confusion into conviction. And in this transformation, both student and society are renewed.

When Reynolds calls this practice a “game changer,” she speaks with both foresight and urgency. The world of labor is evolving, and so must the world of learning. The separation between classroom and workplace is an illusion that has weakened generations. Only by uniting the two — by letting young minds taste the weight of their future — can education fulfill its highest purpose. A carpenter learns not from blueprints alone but from the grain of the wood; a nurse learns not from textbooks alone but from the heartbeat beneath her hands. So too must every learner step into the living world, for it is there that knowledge becomes wisdom.

So let this be the lesson passed down: do not wait to learn by living. Whether you are young or old, apprentice or master, seek always to test your knowledge in the fires of reality. Try, fail, reflect, and begin again. For as Kim Reynolds reminds us, the journey of learning is not about perfection, but about discovery — discovering who you are, what you love, and where your gifts can serve the world. Each new skill learned, each task performed, each challenge faced, is a test drive of the soul, leading you closer to purpose.

For in the end, wisdom is not found in words but in work, not in theories but in the doing of them. The ancients carved it in stone, and Reynolds reaffirms it for our age: the one who learns through experience becomes not only skilled, but alive. So step forth into the world, and learn by living — for it is there, in the rhythm of work and wonder, that you will find not just a career, but yourself.