High School Hamster Wheel

Betsy Jewell hosts High School Hamster Wheel with a clear thesis: the traditional path of high school to four-year college to career is not the only option, and for many students, it is not even the best option. Jewell runs a career coaching practice and brings on education experts, industry leaders, psychologists, and professionals who took non-traditional routes to successful careers. The conversations are practical and grounded in real job market realities. The show covers territory that most high school guidance counselors barely touch. Episodes tackle questions like whether college ROI actually pencils out for specific majors, how micro-internships work and where to find them, what career-readiness actually looks like to employers, and how neurodivergent students can find paths that play to their strengths. Jewell also addresses the mental health toll of the college admissions pressure cooker, which makes the show feel less like career advice and more like permission to step off the hamster wheel and think clearly. With 146 episodes and a perfect 5.0 star rating from 43 Apple reviews, the audience is smaller but fiercely loyal. The show releases biweekly and episodes run 30 to 50 minutes. For any high school student feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to have a perfect college plan by age 17, this podcast offers a calmer, more realistic perspective on what comes after graduation.