yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Khan Stories: Jason Spyres


3m read
·Nov 10, 2024

Um, my name is Jason Spires. It's nice to be able to use that name because for many years, the only name that mattered in my life was Mr. K-99397 because that was my prison number. Unfortunately, at a very young age, I made a stupid decision to sell cannabis, and I ended up in prison.

I was never really the type that was real good at school. Like, I was smart, but I wouldn't sit around; I wouldn't focus. Not trying to make excuses, but my parents had drug addictions. I probably didn't have the best guidance, but I still knowingly made my own choices, so I own up to that. But when I got to prison, I had moments in my life that made me realize I had a distorted notion of what success really was.

Fortunately, when I got arrested, it helped my mother get clean and sober and helped my father get clean and sober. So, I now had parents that were actively involved in trying to do good things for me. I decided that I wanted to improve my education. One of the things that I remember is my mother went online to Khan Academy, and she would get printed out transcripts of what the videos were talking about in math. She'd send me the transcripts, and I'd read over them.

From that, I started realizing I understand how fractions work. I understand math on a deeper level. I was always good with it, but now I was getting to the point where I could actually perform well with it. While I was in prison, I was able to, with Khan Academy's transcripts, learn how to do many of the math procedures that helped me perform better on the SAT.

When I got towards the end of my sentence, I was able to enter a work release program, which allowed me to go to Community College, and I had to take the SAT in anticipation of transferring to a university. I used the Khan Academy SAT prep and, fortunately, I was accepted as a transfer student to Stanford University. Little did I know that a year later I would go to my classroom and Mr. Khan be our guest speaker.

I got to tell him something that was very difficult to say but were the truest words I could think of, and that was thank you. Um, and it's not just who he is because, like he said, he did nothing personally for me. It was his organization. It was having videos that were easy to understand. It was being able to learn knowledge without having to admit that I'm stupid because I didn't already know it.

It took away the embarrassment factor of having to ask someone else. So, if you're a part of that organization, if you're a donor, if you're Mr. Door, who gave Mr. Khan the impetus he needed to make this actually happen, thank you because you played a role in me now being a Stanford University student and studying computer science after being locked up 15 years without access to technology.

So, I appreciate everything that's been done for me in my life, and there's been so many people that contributed to it, but I can honestly say that Khan Academy and everyone involved with the organization and everyone who has supported its expansion and growth to other students has made an impact upon me. I can only tell you that there are so many other people that have the potential to make my story nothing if they can just get their hands on the ability to learn the way that I was able to, which Khan Academy is a part of.

More Articles

View All
Snorkeling With President Obama: How Our Photographer Got the Shot (Exclusive) | National Geographic
I’ve never photographed a president before. This was my first experience, you know, being sort of in the presence of Air Force One and all the security and Secret Service. The day that the president arrived was a perfect day—sunny, clear. I didn’t expect …
Watch a Hungry Bear Catch Salmon | Expedition Raw
It’s a really good spot. Bears come from all directions; we can pretty much predict where they’re going to hunt. I’m going to set up a camera and try and get a shot of a bear smashing into a salmon. I’m with my camera, with my tripod, and a bear comes ou…
10 Ways To Fix Your Poor Mindset
Listen up! Okay, if you want to be in the three percent club one day, pay close attention to what we’re about to say to you. Imagining that you’re going to randomly get rich one day is just a delusion and a sign of an eternally poor mindset. You might nee…
How to Surface a Submarine in the Arctic Ocean - Smarter Every Day 260
[Man] Seven zero, six up, point four up. Standby for impact! - Welcome back to Smarter Every Day. I’ve made a really long journey to an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean to board the USS Toledo, a U.S. Navy fast attack nuclear submarine, which has punched its …
What Your Net Worth Should Be By Every Age (Individual)
Everyone wants to be rich, but if you ask anyone how much they’re worth, 99% of them can’t tell you. That’s the thing about building wealth: you can’t grow what you don’t measure. Net worth is how you measure someone’s wealth. Think of it like this: if y…
The World isn't Nearly as Terrible as We Think (or is it?)
As soon as we turn on the radio or television, or scroll through our social media feeds, a rush of tragic events scourges our minds. From pandemics to street violence, from clashes between countries to changes in climate: if we immerse ourselves in these …