I went back to school

Author

Epaphra T
February 25, 2026

In partnership with

Hey Beyonder!

Last week, I went back to school.

I know. Sounds dramatic. But honestly, it kind of was.

Eight Years. Gone.

I'm 26 now. It's been about eight years since I walked out of a school for the last time. You stop thinking about it after a while. Life moves fast.

But this week, my team and I walked into a school with a camera and a curious idea.

We're working on a content experiment around leadership. Specifically, we wanted to understand one thing: how does a child choose a leader, in their world, by their logic.

A school was kind enough to let us in. And that's when things got interesting.

The Smell Hit Me First

We walked in during lunch period.

And before I even saw the kids, I smelled it. That specific mix of food from a hundred different lunch boxes, all in one place.

I hadn't smelled that in eight years. But my brain knew it instantly.

Suddenly, I wasn't a 26-year-old content creator with a camera crew. I was back. Just like that.

I Had the Wrong Idea About Kids

Here's the prejudice I walked in with: kids below fifth grade are chaotic. Hard to manage. You tell them something and they do something else entirely.

I was asking my team to 'take control' before we even started.

I was wrong.

These kids were genuinely amazing. Curious. Cooperative. Present.

At one point, I asked them: 'Who's your favourite teacher?'

They couldn't pick one.

They genuinely couldn't drop any teacher. Every name they thought of, they'd defend. They didn't want to leave anyone out.

That told me everything.

Kids that age are still honest. They haven't learned to play favourites for the wrong reasons. If they love someone, they love them completely.

The Real Reason We Were There

I won't share the full experiment yet, the video is coming before the next election and I want you to see it fresh.

Mandatory selfie with the team :)

But I'll tell you the goal: we want to show people, in the most honest and unbiased way possible, how we should be choosing our leaders.

Not telling you who to vote for. Not pushing a political view.

Just asking a simple question through the eyes of children who haven't been taught to filter their answers yet.

What This Reminded Me

Teachers don't get enough credit.

The way those kids behaved, that doesn't happen by accident. It's a reflection of the people in that building, every single day.

When you see a child who is genuinely kind, there's usually a teacher somewhere in that story.

Something I Still Can't Believe

Okay. I need to tell you about something else that happened.

YouTube, the official YouTube featured us in an article about the evolution of Indian podcasting.

I keep rereading it just to make sure it's real.

Here's the honest truth: I don't think of myself as the best podcaster. I'm not even close to thinking that. I just ask questions. I'm curious about people. That's genuinely all it is.

And somehow, that's gotten us here.

What I feel most is gratitude. For you guys. You've been here through every episode, every video, every newsletter. This recognition, whatever it means belongs to all of us.

We are just getting started. I mean that. There's so much more to do, so many more stories to tell, so many more people to reach. And I want to do all of it with you.

Over to You

Hit reply. I'd love to hear it.

See you next week.

Cheers,

Epaphra

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