Niels Hoven

Kids who love learning often struggle to have their learning needs supported. When Niels was in kindergarten, a teacher accused his mother of academically pushing him and told her he would commit suicide by the time he was a teenager. That teacher was wrong. Instead, those opportunities to accelerate and challenge himself allowed Niels to take calculus in middle school, get perfect scores on his SATs, and get into every college he applied to (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT, Caltech…). Niels was lucky enough to receive an amazing public school education, but over the years, he watched all the accelerated programs that he benefited from get cut or even banned. Niels spent math classes from 3rd-6th grade doing independent study, until he rejoined group classes in 7th grade for precalculus. He remembers independent study fondly: he got to learn as fast as he wanted and never had any homework. But today, independent study is hard. The path isn’t clear, the tools aren’t good, and it’s not well-supported by schools. But for a high-achieving student whose learning needs aren’t being supported, independent study can be a lifeline to finally learning as fast as they want. Our mission with Mentava is to throw a lifeline to those kids who are bored and stifled in their current educational environment, and show the world how fast children are capable of learning.