My Open School Journey, From Self Awareness To Personal Growth and Success In Life

My Open School Journey, From Self Awareness To Personal Growth and Success In Life

By Ben Hyman

My Open School Journey started in 1971. I remember the chaos of that new building and the “all hands-on deck” clean up as everything wasn’t quite ready for 500 students. Despite that, even as a naïve and “clueless” 15-year-old starting 9^th grade, I knew that I was in the right place.

My previous educational experience felt like an exercise in personal failure, loneliness, and poor grades. As a kid with ADHD, I struggled with relationships, traditional schoolwork, and was made to feel that I wasn’t good enough for anything but basic acknowledgement from teachers and peers. My daily interactions were filled with personal insults, or if I was lucky, avoidance. I did have friends through all this, but my peer group in the traditional environment were the ones that were most often ostracized or at worst, picked on by the local bullies for being “different”.   I even had the horrifying experience of being called out by a teacher in front of an entire class during an after-school activity because my mother didn’t want me to walk several miles in the snow to go to a bowling event and gave me a written excuse. The teacher called me a “loser” in front of my peers and walked me to the principal’s office.

In the early 70’s, ADHD wasn’t recognized as a legitimate psychological diagnosis. My learning style was perceived as a lack of intelligence, motivation, or simply being immature. As a result, I was denied access to any of the educational opportunities that would have enabled me to succeed at school or in life. Most of the teachers would give me the bare minimum to graduate and get out of their hair.

Then came Open School. My mother was one of the original parents that helped get this program off the ground. She knew that I needed something different to thrive and recognized the potential of this process to help me. Even with the challenges of those early days, I also recognized that this school was going to be different.

During our most recent 55-year reunion, one of the former students wondered why there was this “feeling” of joy and acceptance that permeated the walls of any Open School environment. I felt it back then when I walked through those doors. I also remember the “cliques” that were so common in traditional schools. Kids with similar social status or physical prowess would “hang out” and many had a superiority complex over kids deemed less socially adept. I never sensed the presence of these groups at Open School. I think it was because it drew from all over the city and the kids wanted to be there. Given the small student population relative to its being a K-12 education, there was simply no room for that kind of social class structure. All kids, regardless of ability or social status started on the same footing.

Thinking back to those early days, I remember some of the other new students like Tim Lynch and Tommy Scher introducing themselves to me and I felt immediate acceptance despite my insecurities and psychological challenges around personal interaction. I also had advisors like Wendell Carroll and Dave Evertz that saw through the “noise” and helped me recognize my abilities and how to guide me to personal and educational success. From a 15-year old’s perspective, I finally felt “heard”.

Some of the most impactful experiences during those 4 years included the trip to Puebla Mexico and my first time in another country. That helped me really understand different viewpoints and taught me that I could make friends, even with a language barrier. The rigors of getting along with 20 other kids while travelling for days on a school bus was also very helpful.

The educational structure allowed kids like me to take part in the building and validation of our graduation packet. This kind of freedom was unheard of in the traditional environment, and it gave me even more confidence in abilities and self-worth. I thrived in the creation and demonstration of the competencies needed to graduate.

The event that really set me up for future success was the program that allowed high school students to attend college classes and have those credits count towards a future graduation; all without costs. In the traditional High School that I came from, this opportunity would only be made available to those students deemed “worthy.”  At Open School, anyone could apply. I got accepted and took Freshman English at Hamline University. I did well enough to be admitted for Freshman Year without having to take SATs.

After graduating in 1975, I started Freshman Year at Hamline. I stayed for 2 years and then moved to U.W. Madison for my Junior Year. I graduated with a degree in Anthropology which was the best fit for my abilities at the time. Granted that degree did not open many doors, but with effort, I managed to get an offer from a Retail Chain based in Chicago called Goldblatt’s for their Management Training Program. That lasted about a year until they filed for bankruptcy.

From there, I found my way into various Sales Roles, including selling Business Equipment and Automotive Products for 3M, then moving to Insurance Sales, and then finally finding my place as an Inside Sales Rep for a company called Insignia Systems back in 1996. That was also the year that I got my official ADHD diagnosis. Once I knew what I was dealing with, I was able to get the proper medication and counselling and that is when I finally found my footing.

19 years ago, I started work at a small startup called VisionShare that sold SAAS services to Medicare providers. That company turned into ABILITY Network, adding new capabilities to their portfolio, and finally a buyout from a much larger company called Inovalon. I became a Regional Manager and then transitioned to a Sales Trainer, helping new hires become successful in their roles. I was finally able to retire in April of 2024.

I think that my experience at Open School, the help I received from advisors like Wendell and Dave, and the friends that I made along the way helped paved the way to my success later in life. Thank you for helping me see my potential and give me the courage to try, fail and finally make it.

Ben Hyman

Class of ‘75