I’ve been struggling to find the right metaphor for what we’re all experiencing with AI. Then it hit me during a conversation with a student who said, “I feel like I’m drowning in all this change.”
We’re not drowning. We’re navigating rapids.
As AI Coordinator for Oregon State University’s College of Business, I spend my days immersed in these technologies—testing new tools, developing guidelines, answering questions from faculty and students. As a senior instructor, I watch students grapple with an uncertain future, their eyes mixing excitement with anxiety. As a parent, I worry about the world my children will inherit. And what I’ve realized through all these roles is this: we’re all in the same turbulent water, trying to figure out which way is forward.
Why This Series?
The standard narrative about AI in education doesn’t match what I’m experiencing. We hear about “preparing students for the future” as if we know what that future holds. We talk about “upskilling” as if there’s a fixed set of skills to master. But the reality is messier, more human, and ultimately more hopeful than these neat narratives suggest.
Over the next six posts, I’ll be sharing reflections on what it means to teach, learn, and work when the current of change runs faster than any of us can swim. This isn’t a guide from someone who’s figured it all out—it’s a collection of observations from someone who’s in the water with you, paddle in hand, learning as we go.
What to Expect
We’ll explore a different aspect of navigating these uncertain waters:
Part 1: The Current is Strong - We’ll start by acknowledging the shared experience of uncertainty. How the traditional hierarchy of knowledge has flattened, and why that might be exactly what we need.
Part 2: Finding Your Paddle - We’ll explore how learning itself is changing when information has a half-life measured in months, not years. What does it mean to be a learner when the textbook is being written as we read it?
Part 3: Reading the River - We’ll tackle the anxiety-inducing question of career preparation. How do we prepare for jobs that don’t exist yet? How do we counsel students when the map keeps changing?
Part 4: Traveling Together - We’ll challenge the narrative of individual optimization and personal branding. What if our obsession with standing out is actually holding us back?
Part 5: Safe Harbor - We’ll identify what remains constant in turbulent times. When everything is changing, what can we hold onto? How do we create stability through human connection?
Part 6: Charting New Waters - We’ll reimagine what education and work could look like if we embraced uncertainty as a feature, not a bug. What opportunities emerge when we stop pretending to have all the answers?
Who This Is For
- Educators wondering how to maintain relevance and authority while acknowledging uncertainty
- Students anxious about preparing for careers that keep morphing
- Business professionals trying to adapt without losing their sense of purpose
- Parents concerned about preparing children for an uncertain world
- Leaders tasked with guiding others through uncharted territory
- Anyone feeling overwhelmed by the pace of change and looking for fellow travelers
A Different Perspective
Most AI content falls into predictable camps: breathless hype about productivity gains or doomsday predictions about human obsolescence. This series aims for something different—honest reflection on the messy middle where most of us actually live. Where we’re excited by possibilities but worried about implications. Where we paddle hard to keep up but know we can’t master every current.
I believe we’re at an inflection point—not just in technology, but in how we relate to each other, how we learn, and how we find meaning in our work. The individualistic “build your brand, optimize yourself” message feels increasingly hollow when we’re all struggling with the same fundamental questions.
Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that we’re on parallel paths, that your uncertainty mirrors mine, and that our best chance of navigating these rapids is to do it together. Not as experts and novices, but as fellow travelers, each bringing different perspectives to shared challenges.
An Invitation
This series is an experiment in vulnerability and community. I’ll share what I’m learning, where I’m struggling, and what gives me hope. But more importantly, I hope you’ll share too. Your questions, your experiences, your moments of clarity and confusion—they’re all part of this larger story we’re writing together.
The river is wide enough for all of us. Let’s navigate it together.
I hope you’ll join me for the journey.
This series was developed with the assistance of Claude AI as a thought partner, helping to structure and articulate ideas drawn from my experiences as an educator and AI Coordinator.
