Building something meaningful is hard. I went to SXSW EDU looking for answers. But I found something bigger: a community. Here are my biggest takeaways from SXSW EDU 2026: From the start, Yousra Magouri spoke about mentorship as a force for transformation. Real mentorship means sharing failures and the messy parts of the journey so others can find their own “aha” moment. Kirstie Papworth, Michellana Jester, Ari Lightman, and Bill Heinrich Heinrich reinforced why experiential learning and learning by doing matter. AI can support learning, but it cannot replace human learning. Elaine Zuniga and Ryan Westrup shared an honest founder story about building an EdTech startup together. Bootstrapped. No perfect roadmap. Just resilience, trust, and learning how to keep going. At the FOHE Mixer hosted by Future of Higher Education, it was energizing to connect with founder Ray Batra, reconnect with Connor Koblinski, and try to get Reed Dickson to give me high fives :) At the meetup with Julia Kaziewicz Collier, the advice was practical, generous, and interactive. She pushed us to share, connect, and create content. It was a reminder that telling our story matters. The keynote with Martha Salazar-Zamora, and Adeel Khan, founder of MagicSchool AI, made one thing clear: teachers must stay at the center. AI should support educators, but never replace them.