Issue #39: Tuition Well Spent

December 16, 2025

💌 From the Editor’s Desk

Welcome back to Work In Progmess, where we believe learning matters, but timing is everything.

This week’s edition was inspired by a familiar scene. A college student returns home for winter break. Parents are proud. Tuition has been paid. The finish line is near.

Then something unexpected happens.

— The Mess

📰Headline Shocker

📰 COLLEGE SENIOR BUILDS APP OVER WINTER BREAK THAT TEACHES HIM EVERYTHING HIS DEGREE DID, PROMPTING PARENTS TO STARE SILENTLY AT WALL
“It’s basically everything I learned, just faster,” student explains.

COLUMBUS, OH — Local college senior Tyler Watkins returned home last week for what his parents believed would be a celebratory final break before graduation.

Instead, within 72 hours, Watkins had built a simple app that summarizes, explains, and applies nearly everything he learned during the last three and a half years of college.

“I was just messing around,” Watkins said casually from the kitchen table. “I wanted something that could walk me through concepts, connect ideas, and explain things when I get stuck. Turns out I already paid for that.”

According to Watkins, the app was built in a weekend using tools he learned “mostly from YouTube and vibes.”

When asked why he waited until his final semester to do this, Watkins shrugged. “I didn’t really need it until now.”

Sources confirm the student’s parents sat quietly during the explanation, occasionally nodding while mentally replaying tuition payments totaling approximately $110,000.

“We’re still glad he went to college,” said his mother after a long pause. “It builds character. Right?”

His father added, “We’re proud of the app. We just assumed it would cost more.”

University officials declined to comment but confirmed Watkins still needs to attend class to “fulfill residency requirements.”

📦 What the App Does (That the Degree Also Helped With)

According to Watkins, the app can:

Explain core concepts on demand
Connect ideas across disciplines
Provide examples and applications
Answer clarifying questions without judgment
Repeat explanations patiently
Adapt to how he learns

“It doesn’t give grades,” Watkins admitted. “Which honestly might be its biggest strength.”

🪑 From The Editor’s Desk

Here’s the part that actually matters.

This story is not about whether college is good or bad. It is about what we confuse with readiness.

Information has never been the hardest part.
Access has never been the hardest part.
Credentials have never guaranteed capability.

What does matter is how students learn to use information.
How they think through problems.
How they make decisions when there is no syllabus.
How they apply what they know in real situations with real people.

Tools can accelerate learning.
They can personalize it.
They can remove friction and unlock insight faster than ever before.

But readiness still depends on the human behind the tool.

Education works best when it develops judgment, curiosity, resilience, and self-awareness alongside content. When learning becomes something you own, not something you complete.

The danger is not that students can now build powerful tools.

The danger is believing the goal was ever just absorbing information.

📩Until Next Time…

Forward this to a parent who still believes success is mostly about picking the right major.

Or to a student who just realized learning does not end at graduation. It just becomes self-directed.

Either way, remind them: the most valuable outcome of education is not what you know.

It is how you use it.

— The Progmess Editorial Team

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