This week, Peter reconnects with Brianna Jacob, a former anatomy student turned work-from-home nurse living in El Paso, Texas. What started as a student-teacher relationship has grown into a story about bold choices, personal reinvention, and learning to find yourself far from everything familiar.

Brianna opens up about the realities of bedside nursing — including the trauma, the camaraderie, and why she ultimately pivoted to telehealth. She and Peter also get into life as a partner of a dental school student, discovering authentic Mexican-Asian fusion in the desert, and why moving away from your comfort zone might be exactly what you need.

Plus: octopuses have three hearts, 200-year-old tortoises, and the inevitable rabbit hole of what human life would look like if we lived twice as long.

What would you tell your past self? For Brianna, it starts with a hug — and a reminder to stop taking yourself so seriously.

Peter reconnects with Isabella Romero — UCF pre-med junior and dermatology medical assistant — who walked into the field at 17 with no certification and applied to every office in Orlando until someone said yes. In this episode, Isabella opens up about the high school moment she'll never forget, why she thinks making connections beats memorizing every time, and what burning out hard enough to take a medical withdrawal taught her about building a life that lasts. A conversation about grit, grace, and growing up on the fly.

Caden Redmond graduated from Timber Creek in 2022 and hasn't slowed down since. From winning a national championship at the NAIA level to recovering from a full ACL tear — with a double meniscus tear and partial fracture to go with it — Caden has had to fight for every yard, on and off the field. Now interning with the Orlando Pirates and building his brand on social media, he's chasing a professional football dream one step at a time. In this episode, we talk about what it's really like to play college football at the NAIA level, how a high school knee injury eventually led to major surgery, the importance of the coach-player relationship, and why Caden's dad's simple advice — "if you're green, you grow" — is how he defines success. Whether you're chasing a big dream or bouncing back from a setback, this one's for you.

In this episode, Peter reconnects with Connor Green, UCF friend, newly married husband, and middle school history and speech & debate teacher. They talk about the post-wedding exhale, what it's like watching students go from shy sixth graders to SGA presidents, and how a handful of unforgettable high school teachers set Connor on the path he's on today. They also get into the state of sports journalism, navigating a career pivot through COVID, and why Connor's been leaving his work laptop at school. The episode closes where it began — with a simple reminder to keep learning.

This week's episode hits close to home — literally. I'm catching up with my younger brother Matthew Ng and his partner Ann Schlotzhauer, both assistant professors of psychological science at Missouri S&T. We dig into what high school actually shaped us, what we'd tell our past selves, the psychology of how we define growth, and why there's no such thing as finishing your work. Oh, and we learn why St. Louis has a low area code.

In this episode, Peter catches up with Peyton Stanley — a former student who skipped 8th grade, started college at 16, and had her first semester derailed by a car accident that totaled her car and landed her in physical therapy. Rather than stay at a school that didn't feel right, she made a bold call: transfer mid-year to Gainesville, sign a lease sight-unseen off Facebook Marketplace, and start fresh.

Payton and Peter talk about what it was like being the youngest kid in the room for most of high school, how finding a real friend group her senior year changed everything, and why getting an OCD diagnosis in 2026 felt less like a label and more like a key that finally unlocked something.

She's now studying APK at Santa Fe with her eyes on PT school — and along the way, she's picked up a philosophy that's hard to argue with: your 5-year plan can change in half a second. Make the decision anyway.

Catching Up — where conversations don't end when the bell rings.

Join The catchiNG up Podcast as host, Peter Ng, reconnects with Carter Benson, a former student turned fellow traveler on the path of personal growth. Listen in for real stories about education, mentorship, resilience, and finding purpose after school. Whether you’re an educator, former student, or just love authentic conversations, this episode reminds you why catching up matters.

Join The catchiNG up Podcast as host, Peter Ng, reconnects with Isabella Maddox, a former student turned fellow traveler on the path of personal growth. Listen in for real stories about education, mentorship, resilience, and finding purpose after school. Whether you’re an educator, former student, or love authentic conversations, this episode reminds you why catching up matters.

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