“My passion is a place beyond question.  When I know I’m right and my passion and heart are aligned, either help me out, get out of my way and be invisible, or stand in my way and look stupid.”

Many people have heard of the game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), but few know the profound academic and therapeutic benefits it possesses.  Fortunately, for the 1,200 or so middle school students who have been taught to play the game as part of their curriculum, Kade Wells knows about these benefits first hand.  Kade recognizes that D&D helps young people build strong friendships and community, develop crucial problem solving skills, and expand their creativity exponentially.  The game can even help express deeply held emotional pain in a safe way. 

Kade was one of the first teachers to bring attention to the serious academic design of the game to school administrators.  As you might imagine, bringing attention to the benefits of Dungeon and Dragons was one thing, but getting D&D implemented as part of the school curriculums in Texas and South Dakota was quite another.  In fact, it was an epic quest.  Fortunately, Kade was up for the challenge and in the years since its implementation, Kade has found that many of the same administrators who once stood in his way, now stand behind him and lend support to his vision of supporting young people by teaching them D&D.  

As someone who has friends who play D&D, but didn’t know much about it myself, I found it deeply inspiring to listen to Kade speak  at a recent TEDx event I attended in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  He spoke with reverence and deeply contagious passion about what this game has given him, his friends and his students.  

In terms of the impact Dungeons and Dragons has had on his own life, Kade says, “At a certain point in my life there was a great darkness.  But then, there was also this game and the friends I'd made through it.  Either I could choose the darkness or I could choose the game and the friendships.  I chose the latter.”

Before becoming a teacher, Kade was on a quest to find the spark of his purpose.  His journey involved going to UNLV where he studied screenwriting and directing, obtaining a degree in production and communication and starting a business that brought community theater to small towns.  He had a short lived dream of opening a restaurant with a friend before meeting his wife and becoming a proud father.

Talking with Kade, I’m reminded that we each have the opportunity to discover and nurture our dreams and advocate for them with fierce, contagious passion, all while slaying the dragons of our doubts and fears.

_______________________________________________

**Video broadcast available** on YouTube @imperfectbest

**Learn more about Jason Freeman** at AwkwardlyAwesome.com