I Dropped Out of College, Now I’m CRUSHING Tucker Carlson
EXCLUSIVE: Here is my story thus far. Only possible because of YOU.
I have some huge news: the Adam Mockler channel is in the top 10 fastest growing political YouTube channels for Q1 of 2025. We are officially BEATING the right-wing digital ecosystem and fighting back… all thanks to you guys.
But this milestone hits deeper for me, for a few reasons:
I began making skits and editing videos when I was 7 years old - I’m sure they were terrible - but I was unknowingly building the exact skillset that would carry me all the way here.
The YouTube channel that I post on daily was created in 2013, when I was 10 years old. In fact, there are hundreds of private videos on this YouTube channel of me playing video games or making dumb videos about my middle school experience. I even wrote a letter to myself in 6th grade that says “Current sub count: 170. I hope you have a big YouTube channel someday!” & “I hope you are in film school!” and oddly enough, the letter was meant to be opened in 2025. And here we are, even if it took some time and a few detours.
I was always a sharp and respectful student but rebellious in a lot of dumb ways. One of my most potent memories is getting kicked out of class in fifth grade for debating my teacher about gay marriage. Another skill that would come back to help me.
In high school, despite being an honors student, I struggled a lot with the structure and honestly felt trapped by the lack of creative outlet. I understood that I was fortunate to go to a good public school, but my grades got so bad that I very seriously considered the idea of dropping out of high school. My teachers liked me but I was focused more on being creative or making music than anything school-related. I even performed at my junior homecoming (then got kicked out because of what I said in the song, but that’s a story for another time.)
I’m not sure why high school was such a struggle for me, but my graduation post from four years ago said “onto bigger things.”—because I knew that no matter what I did next it would be more freeing than being stuck there.
After I graduated high school, I enrolled in a local Indiana college and began to get incredibly good grades. I wanted to prove that I could do it after failing so badly in high school, and I did! I had a 4.0 GPA in college and that’s when I took a small film class during my sophomore year. In this film class, I rapidly regained my passion for video editing and producing. Maybe someday I’ll share these skits on this very Substack. Maybe my old songs as well!
Two days after this film class ended, I hired camera-man from Iowa, drove across multiple states, and made my first video at a Trump rally to officially re-enter the YouTube sphere, which can be found below.
Days later:
You can see the existing production skills in this video, I would like to think. I emailed this around to a bunch of YouTube channels, until it got picked up by the one and only David Pakman. After that, we were off.
I then went to about 40 more Trump rallies and made countless more videos.
I moved to Chicago in 2022 to go DePaul and take film classes (as inquired by my 6th self) but after one quarter, I realized I was already doing what I wanted. I had a unique path in front of me, and college just wasn’t teaching me even a fraction of what it’s like to operate in a fast-paced, real-world business.
I worked with multiple orgs until I signed with the largest pro-democracy network MeidasTouch in March of 2024, which has been the perfect home for my work. Since then it has been only growth. I took a break from college, I bet on myself, and I applied a level of drive and ambition that high school me was hoping to apply someday.
We are now leaders in the space thanks to you guys, and yet I still have this unsatisfied feeling: like we’re only at the very beginning of something incredibly special. We aren’t even close to the peak.
A few takeaways: THANK YOU ALL for making my younger self proud, and f*ck you Tucker Carlson. If you want me to go deeper into my story, subscribe and let me know in the comments below.
Great job !! Major congratulations 🎉 it’s great when we can read and learn about different independent journalists! Their history . Thanks !
I remember this video! Congratulations Adam watching you and your work evolve and grow has been a pleasure. Proud of 💜