A Slice with 'Dice

Higher education doesn’t have a messaging problem—it has a trust problem. And the more openly institutions acknowledge that reality, the more complicated the path forward becomes.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the tension at the heart of higher education’s current moment. Using the recent report from Yale University as a starting point, this episode examines what happens when elite institutions name concerns about cost, fairness, transparency, and academic rigor—not as outside criticism, but as internal reflection. The conversation moves beyond the report itself to consider a deeper question: whether colleges and universities can meaningfully rebuild trust without giving up the very mechanisms that have long defined their power and prestige.

As peer institutions signal agreement but hesitate to act, a paradox emerges. The honesty required to restore credibility can also fuel external criticism and internal caution, creating a narrow path between defensiveness and reform. This episode sets the stage for a broader conversation—not just about higher education, but about any selective system navigating the balance between excellence, access, and public trust.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A Teacher Appreciation Week meme campaign from the U.S. Department of Education may have been designed for engagement, but its fictional teacher choices revealed something deeper about how educators are feeling right now. Beneath the nostalgia and internet humor is a surprisingly honest portrait of exhaustion, dedication, passion, and the desire to be heard.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how characters like Ms. Frizzle, Mrs. Puff, Elizabeth Hoover, Miss Nelson, and Ms. Fowl became more than simple appreciation graphics—and why sometimes the subtext accidentally tells the truth.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Curiosity isn’t disappearing from higher education—it’s being squeezed by cost, structure, and the pressure to get it right the first time. But what if the very tools designed to accelerate students could instead give that curiosity room to breathe?

Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how the argument that colleges have stopped rewarding curiosity intersects with the rise of early college experiences like Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, and concurrent credit. Rather than treating accumulated credits as a fast track to graduation, this episode reframes them as a form of academic margin—space that allows students to double major, study abroad, pursue internships, and explore disciplines without the constant pressure of efficiency. 

At the center of the conversation is a fundamental question: are we designing systems that push students to finish faster, or ones that allow them to experience more?

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Some students grow up surrounded by opportunity so constantly that college feels like the next obvious step. For many small-town and rural students, though, the challenge is not a lack of talent, but the quieter difficulty of seeing ambitious futures clearly enough to believe they are truly within reach.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the work of the STARS College Network and why helping rural students aspire matters so much. This episode examines the idea of aspiration gaps, the powerful message students receive when institutions make clear they are wanted and valued, and the many strengths rural students already bring with them. Corey also reflects on why this work is about more than college access alone. It is about belonging, visibility, and making sure geography does not quietly determine the size of a young person’s future.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Belonging cannot be a boutique advantage.

If mentorship, purpose, depth, and engagement truly predict long-term success, then designing for belonging isn’t a marketing strategy — it’s a moral obligation.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the tension between schools of choice and traditional community schools, asking whether belonging-rich environments are easier to build in smaller, mission-driven models — and what it would take to scale them more broadly.

Belonging is not sentimental. It is strategic infrastructure.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Schedule is never just about time. Assessment is never just about grades. If belonging truly predicts thriving, then the real question is whether our systems are aligned to produce it.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores how the S.P.A.C.E. framework from Stanford’s Challenge Success initiative (Schedule, Purpose, Assessment, Culture, and Engagement) provides a structural blueprint for designing schools where students are known, challenged deeply, and connected to purpose.

Belonging is not accidental. It is operational.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Belonging isn’t a soft idea. It’s a structural one.

What if the strongest predictors of long-term success in college — and life — have less to do with prestige and more to do with experience?

Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the 2015 Gallup–Purdue research identifying six undergraduate experiences that directly correlate with graduating on time and thriving beyond college. Rather than focusing on rankings or selectivity, the findings point to relational depth, sustained intellectual challenge, applied learning, and meaningful engagement as the true drivers of success.

If success is built through belonging, then belonging isn’t accidental — it’s designed.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

Masculinity is being optimized, marketed, and polarized in real time. But what if the real work is slower and more integrated?

Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores the modern crisis among young men through the lens of fatherhood, literature, and cultural commentary. Drawing on contemporary conversations about male drift and revisiting high school texts like The Old Man and the Sea and A Farewell to Arms, this episode examines the tension between surface-level “looksmaxxing” and the mythic endurance often associated with Ernest Hemingway.

Rather than romanticizing or rejecting traditional masculine codes, Corey considers what adolescent boys truly need today: courage without isolation, resilience without emotional withdrawal, and strength that connects rather than calcifies. This episode offers a thoughtful reflection for parents, educators, and anyone invested in helping young men find balance in a noisy cultural landscape.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

A ringing phone. A Saturday school. A moment that opens up a much bigger conversation about rules, responsibility, and what schools are really trying to protect.

Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, explores how the growing movement to restrict cell phone use in schools—both in Arkansas and across the country—reflects deeper questions about school culture, student trust, and the balance between consistency and grace. Drawing from a personal parenting moment, current legislation, and insights from The Anxious Generation, this episode examines why phone-free classrooms have gained momentum, how parents and educators are responding, and whether the consequences attached to these policies are shaping compliance—or something more meaningful.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

What if one of the most powerful skills a teenager could develop didn’t come from textbooks or test prep, but from the ability to quietly read the room? In Korean culture, this skill is called nunchi—a subtle kind of social radar that helps people sense, adapt, and connect more deeply with others.

Corey Alderdice, national voice on talent and transformation, explores how nunchi, often described as the art of timing and awareness, can be a superpower for today’s high school students. From navigating friendships to leading with empathy, nunchi offers teens a practical way to strengthen relationships, avoid drama, and build trust. Drawing inspiration from pop culture and everyday school life, this episode makes the case for why cultivating nunchi might be just as important as any grade on a transcript.

For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com.

You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.