Introducing the first 4 participants of the ‘Month to Master’ challenge, March 2017
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Three months ago, I started a year-long project called Month to Master (M2M), where I attempt to master one expert-level skill every month.
In the past three months, I became a grandmaster of memory, learned to draw realistic portraits, and solved a Rubik’s Cube in 17 seconds.
I strongly believe that anyone can have the same level of success with their own personal learning goals with the right approach. So, to test this hypothesis, I challenged others to join me for a month of accelerated learning, starting on March 1, 2017 and ending on March 31, 2017.
During this period, I’ve vowed to coach the participants as much as needed, keep them accountable, and help them structure and accelerate their learning progress.
I was happily surprised to receive interest from 27 learners from around the world, and ultimately decided that I could support four participants during this first month. For everyone else, I plan to continue this project in future months, as well as experiment with ways to make the program scale better, so stay tuned for that.
Below, the four participants of the March 2017 M2M Challenge introduce themselves and share their personal learning goals.
I’m honestly very excited to get to work with each of them.
Tracy Biscotti
My name is Tracy Biscotti. I live in Painesville, Ohio, not far from Mentor, Ohio where I grew up. I’m 48 years old and have a 17 year old son, Duke. I work full time as a waitress.
Learning goal
Play a 2-minute improvisation on the piano
Why?
I started taking piano lessons February of 2016. I have always loved the piano and wanted to learn but instead I started playing the flute at a young age. It wasn’t until a year ago it occurred to me that I could start taking lessons and so I did.
I enjoy it though I wasn’t sure how long I would have to go through the basics before I would feel I’ve made any real progress. I’ve enjoyed jazz and was hoping to someday learn to improvise. I am nervous but truly excited about this project.
Gaston Becherano
I was born in Mexico City and moved to Florida at the age of 8. I attend Tufts University as a senior and just finished up a four-year career on the soccer team here. I really enjoy everything involved with restaurants, Liverpool FC, and getting better at different sports or activities that require hand-eye coordination. Next year I am set to work in New York City at IBM Watson.
Learning goal
Learn to code from scratch and build a replica of the Instagram app for iPhone.
Why?
Two reasons:
The first is that the prospect of learning a new skill in which I am a total beginner is something that scares me. As a person, it is hard for me to jump into or enjoy something that I am not skilled in. I hope by learning a new skill in a short time span I can get over my irrational fear of trying new activities on the basis that I have never done them before.
I don’t intend nor expect to become fluent in a coding language in a month. It takes years of practice to master computer science. However, the second reason is that I really want to have a deeper understanding of the ability to solve complex problems and come away with tangible interactive solutions. This aspect of computer science really draws me. Through my month of learning, I hope I can create some of these solutions and come away with having learned, in some capacity, a new skill.
Michael Adler
I am a 53 year old semi-retired business executive from outside of Seattle Washington looking to expand my horizons.
Learning goal
Draw recognizable portraits with pencil and paper
Why?
I have always struggled to draw and want to have the satisfaction of finally being able to draw something, anything which is recognizable.
Cliff Weitzman
Hi! I’m Cliff, I’m 22 years old and from Israel, California, and Brown University. I’m the founder of Speechify and part of the 2017 class of Forbes 30 Under 30. I’m the oldest of 5 siblings and an avid parkour athlete.
Learning goal
Storytell about any given topic via a continuous 2-minute freestyle rap
Why?
I feel like being able to freestyle an answer to any question or an acceptance speech would be a super power — and an incredible way to tell a story and capture an audience’s attention. After becoming obsessed with Hamilton, and then seeing what Lin Manuel Miranda can do in Freestyle Love Supreme, I developed a burning desire to attain this super power as well.
Currently, I sing, beatbox, write songs, and occasionally freestyle for fun.
