Lane Karlitz didn’t study like most kids. Instead of pouring over dry text under harsh lighting, Lane sang his study material. It was a practice he adopted at 13, after his Spanish teacher’s husband made 30-second ditties to help his Spanish class with conjugations. Lane experienced first hand how music made memorizing infinitely easier. Lane started to memorize key study terms for other subjects by placing them inside popular songs, which led to better grades. This inspired Lane to make studying more enjoyable for other kids as well.
“There should be an app for that,” he said.
Study Senses was born out of this desire to help other kids create the soundtrack to their schoolwork. Once you speak study text into the mobile app, you select a tune from the app’s library, and voila, the computer algorithm matches the voice to the melody, creating a customized study song, sung in your very own voice. The app allows you to adjust the tempo as well.
“Study Senses is a revolutionary mobile application designed to make studying easy and enjoyable,” says Lane. “Imagine Schoolhouse Rock meets Quizlet, empowered by iTunes.”
Getting an app made of this customized magnitude was an ambitious venture for a 13-year-old with no coding background. What Lane was aspiring to do at the time, he didn’t even know was possible.
Lane had the fortune, however, of being in good company. He smartly surrounded himself with the right people. Lane took the initiative to enroll in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, a mostly high school organization that Lane managed to get accepted into as an eight grader. The association provides their members with mentors and other resources.
But they didn’t all jump on the bandwagon. Lane’s idea drew skeptics, and many people form his mentor down encouraged Lane to pursue a less technical idea. But Lane wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.
“I knew that if this could work, it could help other kids,” said Lane.
Getting everyone on board took a lot of research and persistence. Lane consulted with everyone from app developers to financial experts to prominent music industry executives, and researched the niceties of licensing, royalties and intellectual property.
One by one, he chipped away at his stumbling blocks. Instead of using the original soundtrack, which would be copyright infringement and create issues with royalties, Lane discovered a loophole by using the karaoke version of popular tunes. And through YEA’s referral, Lane found PhD Labs, an app-developing company, who validated Lane’s idea and helped him work on the backend technical elements to bring Study Senses to life.
In addition to helping prospective students with a more enjoyable studying experience, Lane is currently working on turning his freemium product into an affiliate program where users will have the opportunity to make a profit: create a song, upload it on iTunes and keep a portion of the sales if someone buys it. Students will soon be able to sing to the tune of a profit and better grades.
Lane’s app is slated to be released in fall 2016. But Study Senses has already garnered much support, anticipation and recognition. Lane presented Study Senses at the 2015 national annual YEA competition and placed 2nd place, winning 20,000 in college scholarship money and $2,000 at Sam’s Club.
Lane is now a sophomore at Palos Verdes High School. He splits his time between school and Study Senses by focusing on mostly schoolwork during the week and paying attention to his company on the weekends when he has more time.
He credits his dad for his work ethic. But also the sport of ice hockey. His team doesn’t always win, which Lane admits is frustrating. But getting up and dusting the ice off has taught Lane a thing or two about persistence and being gritty.
