30A- Final Reflection

2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

What sticks out to me as the most formative experience is when I got my first internship with Congressman Ted Yoho. I was really happy because I was very passionate about my job in his office and here I am 2 semesters later and I was asked to come back to his office again for a third semester. Another experience I am really proud of is getting an internship for this upcoming fall with the State Attorney's Office in Gainesville. I was happy because I am able to really dive into the legal field and see for myself what's going on. 

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

To be honest, I don't see myself as an entrepreneur, but I do appreciate all the skills this class has taught me. I believe that if an individual is well-rounded and knowledgeable in multiple topics then they will be more successful and will be able to contribute more to society, as well as the work force. The closest thing I can see myself doing that is somewhat related to being an entrepreneur is having my own law firm in the future. Other than that, I'm not creative enough to think of things to event nor am I patient enough to go through the entire process of doing so.

4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

One recommendation I have is don't let the negativity of others let you down. If you are determined about something, as long as you stick to it and are willing to go through the challenges of it then you will do big things in the future. What I would recommend for future students taking this course is make sure you do all the assignments. Also, what I recommend to foster that mindset is to stay focused and determined, and don't let outside distractions get to them.

5) 

29A- Venture Concept No. 2

1) My opportunity is the proposal of removing the pluses and minuses in the grading system. This opportunity would benefit the students at the University of Florida, but also the TA's and professors as well. The students benefit alot from this because they will be more motivated in school, have higher GPA's, more time to pursue activities outside of school such as clubs and internships, and lastly, they will have higher chances to be admitted in graduate school. The TA's will benefit from this opportunity because if they have high pass rates then they are eligible to be TA's again the next semester in that course. Some international graduate students rely heavily on this because their performance as a TA can lead to how long theyre able to stay in the United States so it's very important. Lastly, professors benefit from this opportunity because they will have higher pass rates in their classes. If the professors have low pass rates they could potentially lose their jobs or have lower rankings as a professor which will result in fewer students taking a course with them. The forces that created this opportunity were the difficulty of courses at the University of Florida because of the increase in rankings in the past few years. It is clear that the University of Florida wants only the best students, and wants their degree to be filled with absolute value once their students graduate. Currently, students are enduring the stresses of school and relying on third parties sources such as Study Edge, Smokin Notes, and other tutoring stations either on campus or outside of campus. Not all students can afford these resources, taking into consideration that many are taking out student loans for their undergraduate studies and will be taking out more for their graduate studies as well. This opportunity is very big because it can make the academic lives of students a lot better. Fewer students will have mental breakdowns and anxiety because they're for example "one point away" from that A and won't have to suffer the consequences of their GPA.

This idea does not make money. It is kind of similar to a law. It's a proposal to improve the academic career of students at the University of Florida because of how difficult the courses are currently. Many students are having lower chances of becoming admitted to graduate school and losing their scholarships at the expense of their mental state because of the difficulty of their coursework. What I would hope to do with this proposal, if it gets approved it extend this idea to other top 10 universities, as well as Ivy League schools. I believe that all students in those schools are going through the same struggles UF students are going through and need to have this proposed grade change to help them out. I think about it this way, if you're constantly discouraged to do your school work because whatever you do you still wont get that A, then you will end up doing really bad in the long run, so it helps if things are just a little bit easier but not unbelievably simple to the point that it will lower the prestige of your degree.

Universities will switch to this idea because they do not want to their students to drop their university and have staggering GPAS which can in fact bring down the ranking of that school and limit the opportunities the alumni have in terms of the job market. Major factors that play into role in a university's ranking is how well the alumni do afterwards. If Harvard University for example had a ton of loser alumni that weren't going anywhere in their life, then their ranking would drop drastically. It will be difficult to get other schools to switch because they're afraid their school will be seen as more easy, but having many students drop the same courses isn't too good for them either. The competitor in this idea would be UF Registrar. This is because they set the grading policy for each school, therefore I would have to somehow convince them that this proposal is justified and many students would benefit from this idea. Customer support is going to play a huge role in my idea, which is why I have conducted interviews with people from student government, academic advisors, other students, TA's, professors, and students as well. Student government was the most important interview in my opinion because student government has the ability to play a significant role on campus. In other words, if there is something a group of students want to change on campus, getting support from senators in student government would be your best bet. This is because student government officials have the connections and platform to promote change if they want it to happen. What I would do to gain more support is hold peaceful protests on campus, out up signs all over the place, and hold meetings that students can attend. I would also create a petition and go into Turlington or Plaza of the Americas and explain the proposal to students and see if theyre interested in signing and joining the cause.

I believe my most important source will be gathering support and connections from different people to help me with my opportunity. This will not be very simple because I have run into people that aren't too fond of my idea, because they worry a lot about the university's statistics. My idea isn't meant to be exclusive to just the University of Florida, I want other schools to implement the same thing I am proposing therefore I am not too worried about anyone copying my idea. The next thing I want to do with this opportunity is spread it to other top 10 schools and Ivy Leagues. What next for me is I want be heavily involved in addressing faults in the university system and help working with schools and students to improve certain things on campus.

2) I did not receive any feedback on my first venture concept therefore it is hard to complete this part of the question. However, on my "What's next" post I was told that there will be a high demand o for my idea, however, extending it to Ivy League schools will be difficult because those schools are known for their prestige and difficulty so the ranking of those schools would go down so they might not approve of my idea.

3) I did not change my venture idea because I did not recieve any feedback, therefore it was hard to know what to change.

4)

28A- Your Exit Strategy

1) With my opportunity, once I implement the new grade changes at UF, I'm going to advocate it to other Florida colleges and then try to target other top 10 schools in the country. I believe it will be a difficult thing to accomplish but once some schools start implementing this policy, others will want to do the same thing as well.

2) I have selected this particular strategy because most students at the top 10 public schools are the ones that are suffering extremely from the pressures their institutions place on them. The courses are more difficult at these schools compared to other mediocre colleges, so it makes sense to change the grading system for these students.

3) My exit strategy has influenced my opportunity because initially I was planning on just keeping the grade change policy strictly just at UF, but as I thought about the future I realized that it would be a good idea to get other schools to do it as well. The more schools that get involved, the easier it will be to convince schools that are being more strict about implementing a new change in their grading scale.

27A- Reading Reflection No. 3

The biography I chose to read for this assignment was on Ray Kroc in the book "Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonald's" 

1) What surprised me the most about Ray Kroc in this book was that he dropped out of school and then started working for a company called Lily Tulips Cups co. This surprised me alot because in our society alot of emphasis is placed on education and how important it is to be successful in life. However, many of the wealthiest people in the world and CEOs of different companies do not have adequate education. They used their brain not the skills they were taught in school. 

What admired me the most about Ray Kroc was that he developed an interest in entrepreneurship at a young age when he started selling lemonade. It showed how passionate he was about entrepreneurship from the beginning of his childhood, which persisted throughout his years in the making of McDonald's. 

What I least admired about Ray Kroc was when he lied about his age to become a driver of the Red Cross when he was younger. I believe that no matter how passionate you are about something, you always have to be honest. 

The entrepreneur encountered adversity and failure when he partnered with the McDonald's brothers to have McDonalds become worldwide but they didn't agree to it. What he did was ended up partnering up with someone and then paid 2.7 million dollars for all of McDonalds. After that, he was able to spread its influence worldwide and make alot of money out of it.

2) Just like any other entrepreneur, Ray Kroc was very intelligent and portrayed alot of interest in business at a very young age. 

3) One part that was confusing to me was why is he more relevant than the McDonald's brothers in the making of the restaurant. 

4) Two questions I would ask is why would did you decide to take over McDonald's and if McDonald's were to be unsuccessful, would you move forward with another business plan or give up on entrepreneurship for the rest of your life? 

5) I think Ray Kroc loved hard work and was willing to do anything to become successful. He was a very driven and motivated man. 

26A- Celebrating Failure

1) One time I have failed this semester is when I did not declare two assignments in this class, even though I finished the assignment. It was very upsetting because I did all the work for it but those two assignment declarations brought my grade down.

2) Thankfully, I still have an A in this class but ever since that incident I have been very diligent in making sure I declare my assignments after I have completed them. It is very upsetting to lose points for something you worked so hard on.

3) To be honest, I don't handle failure too well. It is definitely something I need to work on. I attribute it to my lack of patience and excessive pride and confidence when I do things. For the most part, I always expect things to go the way I want and when they don't I become very disappointed. However, as I've entered college and endured some of the challenges that have come my way at UF, I have learned that failure is a normal thing and you can't let one failure set you back on your goals. Instead, you should use it to work harder on achieving your goals. This class has changed my perspective in failure because it emphasized that in your business plan, you will have to go through several failures until you are able to overcome them and finalize your product. In terms of taking risks in business, I would only do it if I had a substantial amount of money, however i would not put in everything I have for something that might not work out.

24A- Venture Concept #1

My opportunity is the proposal of removing the pluses and minuses in the grading system. This opportunity would benefit the students at the University of Florida, but also the TA's and professors as well. The students benefit alot from this because they will be more motivated in school, have higher GPA's, more time to pursue activities outside of school such as clubs and internships, and lastly, they will have higher chances to be admitted in graduate school. The TA's will benefit from this opportunity because if they have high pass rates then they are eligible to be TA's again the next semester in that course. Some international graduate students rely heavily on this because their performance as a TA can lead to how long theyre able to stay in the United States so it's very important. Lastly, professors benefit from this opportunity because they will have higher pass rates in their classes. If the professors have low pass rates they could potentially lose their jobs or have lower rankings as a professor which will result in fewer students taking a course with them. The forces that created this opportunity were the difficulty of courses at the University of Florida because of the increase in rankings in the past few years. It is clear that the University of Florida wants only the best students, and wants their degree to be filled with absolute value once their students graduate. Currently, students are enduring the stresses of school and relying on third parties sources such as Study Edge, Smokin Notes, and other tutoring stations either on campus or outside of campus. Not all students can afford these resources, taking into consideration that many are taking out student loans for their undergraduate studies and will be taking out more for their graduate studies as well. This opportunity is very big because it can make the academic lives of students a lot better. Fewer students will have mental breakdowns and anxiety because they're for example "one point away" from that A and won't have to suffer the consequences of their GPA.

This idea does not make money. It is kind of similar to a law. It's a proposal to improve the academic career of students at the University of Florida because of how difficult the courses are currently. Many students are having lower chances of becoming admitted to graduate school and losing their scholarships at the expense of their mental state because of the difficulty of their coursework. What I would hope to do with this proposal, if it gets approved it extend this idea to other top 10 universities, as well as Ivy League schools. I believe that all students in those schools are going through the same struggles UF students are going through and need to have this proposed grade change to help them out. I think about it this way, if you're constantly discouraged to do your school work because whatever you do you still wont get that A, then you will end up doing really bad in the long run, so it helps if things are just a little bit easier but not unbelievably simple to the point that it will lower the prestige of your degree.

Universities will switch to this idea because they do not want to their students to drop their university and have staggering GPAS which can in fact bring down the ranking of that school and limit the opportunities the alumni have in terms of the job market. Major factors that play into role in a university's ranking is how well the alumni do afterwards. If Harvard University for example had a ton of loser alumni that weren't going anywhere in their life, then their ranking would drop drastically. It will be difficult to get other schools to switch because they're afraid their school will be seen as more easy, but having many students drop the same courses isn't too good for them either. The competitor in this idea would be UF Registrar. This is because they set the grading policy for each school, therefore I would have to somehow convince them that this proposal is justified and many students would benefit from this idea. Customer support is going to play a huge role in my idea, which is why I have conducted interviews with people from student government, academic advisors, other students, TA's, professors, and students as well. Student government was the most important interview in my opinion because student government has the ability to play a significant role on campus. In other words, if there is something a group of students want to change on campus, getting support from senators in student government would be your best bet. This is because student government officials have the connections and platform to promote change if they want it to happen. What I would do to gain more support is hold peaceful protests on campus, out up signs all over the place, and hold meetings that students can attend. I would also create a petition and go into Turlington or Plaza of the Americas and explain the proposal to students and see if theyre interested in signing and joining the cause.

I believe my most important source will be gathering support and connections from different people to help me with my opportunity. This will not be very simple because I have run into people that aren't too fond of my idea, because they worry a lot about the university's statistics. My idea isn't meant to be exclusive to just the University of Florida, I want other schools to implement the same thing I am proposing therefore I am not too worried about anyone copying my idea. The next thing I want to do with this opportunity is spread it to other top 10 schools and Ivy Leagues. What next for me is I want be heavily involved in addressing faults in the university system and help working with schools and students to improve certain things on campus.

25A- What's Next?

My existing market for my opportunity is just UF students who would like to see new changes to the grading system because of all the stress and anxiety they have to go through due to the difficulty of their courses. The feedback I received was overall very positive and other students like myself want this idea to be implemented.

As my new market I was thinking of attracting other top 10 universities, as well as Ivy leagues to join this cause. I believe it should only be extended to the higher ranked schools because obviously they are more difficult so this grading system would be easier for students to work around. This would be a blessing for all students that attend top 10 and ivy league schools.

I've interviewed two people from the new market and they also agree with my idea because just like UF students, they struggle alot to meet the very difficult grade ranges without dropping classes so they can maintain a high GPA.

In the end, if this becomes extended to other prestigious universities as well I would be thrilled because I would say that I have made a very significant impact.

23A: Your Venture's Unfair Advantage

Because my opportunity doesn't include selling an idea, it was hard to come up with 10 things that helped me with my business idea, however I was able to make it work.

1.Being a student at UF
- This is the most valuable element of my opportunity because it is the one factor that works the most in my favor. This factor allows me to successfully advocate for a proposed grade change for all University of Florida students because I emphasize with the struggles other students are facing.

2. Having connections with UF Student Government
- This is also another valuable element of my opportunity because student government officials have alot of widespread impact on campus. Also, they're able to gather a big group of students together and encourage certain changes.

3. My passion and confidence
- Because of how passionate and confident I am about pursuing changes to the grade system on campus, it attracts attention and other students on campus to help back me up on this idea. Also, being consistent and keeping up with proposals is essential to move forward with change

4. The interviews I've conducted with people of different majors
- These interviews really helped me grasp the challenges the current grading system had on students because I only have insight on my major, not the other majors which some are alot more difficult than mine.

5. The TA's and Professors
- Knowing about the statistics of certain weed out classes and how it affects the TAs and professors is a useful element to help solidify my new grade policy changes. 

6. Speaking to UF Registrar
- Gathering the opinion of the opposing party, which in this case is UF Registrar to see what their stance would be on a grade policy change would be is important. We need to see what is a reasonable reach that both me and them could compromise on.

7. Student Mental Health
- Finding out the statistics of students going into the CWC regarding the difficulty of their classes and how often they stress about their grades is important in being able to create this proposal.

8. Conversations with Academic Advisors
- Getting information from academic advisors was also important because knowing the amount of students that had to switch their major because of their grades is crucial.

9. Speaking with students who want to pursue grad school
- Its important to know how many peoples grades and their performance impacts their grad school admission

10. Speaking to a UF faculty member
- They would give input about the proposal

22A- Elevator Pitch

https://youtu.be/6Sb-kmP91Ko

2) On the last pitch I was complimented on the amount of passion and confidence in my opportunity, which rubbed off on the pitch as well. So with this pitch I tried to maintain those same aspects and incorporate it in this one. None of my feedback really surprised me on my last pitch because only one person commented on it and it was along the lines of the same feedback I recieved in my pitch before my last pitch.

3) In this pitch I decided to place more emphasis on students and mentioned the UF registrar which I had never done in my other pitches. Other than that, the basis of my pitch is pretty standard and the way I presented it was the same because I believe I maintained confidence and passion throughout all of my pitches.

21A- Reading Reflection No. 2

The book I chose to read for this reading reflection was Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker.

1) The general theme/argument of the book was describing how entrepreneurs behave throughout the process of developing their opportunity and the steps they take to make that opportunity a success. The book also discusses the different enterprises of the entrepreneurship world, their roles, and the impacts they have.

2) The book very well connected with what I am learning in this class because it discusses the practices in entrepreneurship. This relates to this course, because throughout the semester we were lectured on different practices that would enhance our ability as entrepreneurs, such as idea napkins, elevator pitches, and networking with the several interviews we had to do.

3)The exercise I would design for this book is to use the same opportunity we have been working on throughout this entire course but try to approach your opportunity with the different entrepreneurship practices that were discussed in the book. Using that, you can compare the success of your opportunity with the skills discussed in this course and the skills discussed in the book.

4) There was nothing in this book that surprised me the most but the thing that I was very interested in the most was when the author mentions when reading this book was saying that "entrepreneurial executives must make innovation and entrepreneurship “a normal, ongoing, everyday activity, a practice in their own work and in that of their organization".  I found that this is true because I realized that new innovations and technology make a society more advance. Therefore, if we want to move forward as a society we have to try to consistently come up with things to make our everyday lives easier.

20A- Growing Your Social Capital

Domain expert in industry
A.UF Registrar

Expert on Market
B. CLAS advisor

Supplier
C. Student Senator in Student Government

Domain expert in industry
1) I chose a faculty member in the UF Registrar. This person has been working here for the past 15 years. She was present when UF made the changes to the current grading system we have now.

2) This person fills the spot of being a domain expert in industry because she has an idea of how the new grading policy has effected the university as a whole.

3) I found this person by walking into the UF Registrar office. I told the front desk that I needed to speak with someone and they set me up with this lady. Then I took advantage of that meeting and spoke to her about my opportunity.

4) The person provided me with the benefits and drawbacks of the current grading system we have and reasons why the old grading system was reformed. She was also offered to speak with someone higher up than her that I can maybe implement my proposal to them. The return expectation is a contact that I can pitch my proposal to.

5) This person will enhance my ability to exploit my opportunity because they will be providing me a contact for pitch my proposal to.

Expert on Market
1) I chose a CLAS advisor. This person has been working here for the past 5 years. He advises alot of students on the daily on their major critical tracking.

2) This person fills the spot of Expert on Market because they have statistics and hands on experience with the amount of students that have to switch their majors or take on a different career path because of their grades, which the new grading system can be to blame.

3) I found the person by going to the CLAS advising center and scheduling an appointment with the advisor. They took me into their office so we can speak about my opportunity.

4) The advisor told me that he would provide me with the statistics of the number of students that had to change their major because of poor grades. The return expectation is to show them the draft of my proposal so they can help me revise it and even ask what else there is it add.

5) Including this person will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity because they will provide me with important statistics I will be able to include in my proposal.

Supplier
1) I chose a Student Senator currently in Student Government. This person has just been elected. However, I chose this because Student Government has a huge influence throughout campus.

2) This person fills the Supplier role because they have a reasonable amount of influence around campus, so they're able to help advocate for a cause that is affecting most students.

3) I found the person through a mutual friend. We sat at the Plaza of the Americas and I talked to her about my proposal and whether it was something Student Government is interested in helping me advocate.

4) The Student Senator told me that before proposal I need to show statistics that this is affecting more than half of the student body at the university. She told me that she can speak with a few other student senators and see if they are interested in looking into this. In exchange, she asked me to update her on the status and statistics of this opportunity.

5) Including this person in my network will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity because she has a reasonable influence throughout campuos which is what I need to be able to pass this proposal.

Reflection
This experience has taught me that networking is very important because if you know the right people, they will be able to help you out. This experience gave me hands-on experience for my future networking opportunities. This was my first time doing such a thing so I was able to gain alot of knowledge and skill on how to speak with people.

19A- Idea Napkin #2

1. I am a second year Political Science major. I have a deep passion for politics, history, and conspiracy theories. My dream is to become a very successful lawyer and a politician. I have always wanted to be a voice of change and advocate for citizens whether it is in the courtroom or in all tiers of government one day. I can speak English, Farsi, and am currently in the process of learning Spanish. I would also say I have a lot of confidence in speaking up for myself and other people. If my plan of removing the (+) and (-) grades in the UF grading system falls through, it would impact myself, as well as other students, TA's, professors, and parents in many ways. Because of my new proposed policy, I could stress a little bit less. Another student could be saved from having to change their major for the 3rd time. A TA could be saved from trouble with their professor on the low student passage rate. Lastly, a professor could be saved from receiving a low rating on rate my professor because of the difficulty of the course.

2. What I am offering to the UF registrar is a proposal to remove (+) and (-) grades from the current grading system. My proposal will save many students money from retaking a course again, their GPA for when they want to apply to grad schools, stress which will affect student performance, and TA's from getting fired from their position, and professors from receiving low ratings.

3. I am offering my opportunity to UF students, but it will benefit TA's and professors as well. What all these people have in common is that my proposal will have an impact on all these three groups.

4. Students will care about my opportunity because it will save them stress, money, their GPA, and increase their chances of getting into graduate school. TA's will care because how students perform in their course sections affects whether the professor asks them to TA again the next semester for that same course. In some cases, these TA's are being paid or are given student visas (if they're international) if they are really benefiting students. Lastly, professors are benefiting because they do not have to have consistent low pass rates for the weed out classes.

5. What I would say sets me apart from other people is my level of confidence, empathy, passion, open-mindedness, and drive. I think what thing I have that many people may struggle with is confidence. Fortunately, I have put myself in a mindset that I feel the best while achieving great things.

I feel like the five elements that set me apart from other people goes very will with my opportunity. For example, you have to have a certain level of confidence to be able to go against your university and call them out on how the current grading policy is negatively affecting students. Also, because I am empathetic towards others, I am able to understand how the current grading policy is negatively affecting other students, including myself. Therefore, I am able to purpose something that will only benefit everyone. My passion towards being an advocate for others is what has allowed me to be able to be a leader and suggest changes that I see, in this case the university's grading policy. My openmindedness is also very crucial because when I do propose my opportunity to the UF Registrar I have to be ready to hear criticism and maybe even a rejection from them. Lastly, my drive is one that can't be overlooked. I am very passionate about my opportunity so I'm willing to go through full lengths to try to get my proposal implemented.
 
Feedback Memo
In my feedback, the two main points that the commenters emphasized on was my passion and empathy. They mentioned how my passion is admirable because they have also been victims of the terrible grading system that is currently in place at UF. Also, regarding my empathy they mentioned that because I am a student and see how the grading policy is affecting myself, as well as my peers, I am able to propose something that I know everyone will like.

18A- Create a Customer Avatar

My customer avatar's name is Anna. She is a second-year pre-med biology major at the University of Florida. Her hobbies are volleyball, video games, and drawing. She loves watching Grey's Anatomy on her free time. Otherwise, she is studying almost non-stop. She very rarely goes out with friends either because of the intensity of her courses. She drives a scooter because she can't afford a car. Anna is at UF on the Bright Futures Scholarship for her tuition and Florida Pre-Paid for her housing costs. Therefore, she will be gradating with no debt from undergrad. Anna also works part-time at the Swamp Restaurant to cover her basic living expenses while she is away, so she can learn to be financially independent from her parents. Anna's GPA is currently at a 3.4, which isn't terrible considering how difficult her major is, however, it is still not high enough for medical school admission. Anna spends money on secondary study resources such as Smokin' Notes and Study Edge because she is struggling in her Chem 2 and Bio 2 Classes. She would prefer if she just spent that money on other things, however getting into med school is her priority. Her dream is to become an OBGYN after medical school.

What I have in common with my avatar is that I am a student at the University of Florida. Just like her, I dedicate a lot of my time studying for my classes so I can make sure I have a high GPA by the time I apply to law school. I am also on a Bright Futures Scholarship as well. I will say Anna has it harder than me though because I don't believe my classes are as hard as hers because I'm a Political Science major. However, I am able to empathize with her because there have been cases in my undergraduate career so far that a point away from an A or A- has led to a significant decrease in my GPA. The things we do have in common I don't believe is a coincidence because my opportunity mostly targets individuals like me.

17A- Elevator Pitch No.2

1) https://youtu.be/Hj6w4bpdPxE

2) When reading the reviews of my other classmates, what stood out to me as the most important is how other students have shown a tremendous amount of support for my opportunity because they themselves would benefit immensely from it. Also, in general, all the feedback I have received was pretty positive. People mentioned how I was very confident in my pitch and they could tell I didn't use a script either because they saw how much passion I displayed in my pitch. I think confidence and passion is very important in a pitch because without that, your pitch will seem very sloppy. If you're trying to gain support for your opportunity you need to show confidence which will make your audience more interested in what you have to say.

3) The feedback I received on my first pitch was very positive so what I did with the 2nd pitch was maintain the aspects of my pitch everybody complimented on and tried to improve on them. One of these was my confidence in delivering my pitch so in this pitch I tried to improve on that by including an attention grabbing beginning.

16A- What's Your Secret Sauce

The five qualities about me that distinguish m from others are my generosity, confidence, dedication, intelligence, and selflessness.

I would consider myself a very generous people. I always go out of my way to help people and make sure they are okay, because helping others gives me a great peace of mind. I gain a lot of happiness knowing that I was able to help someone out in some way. Unfortunately, this quality of mine has lead me to get taken advantage of by others. However, right now I am learning to spot red flags in individuals that possess this sort of behavior.

I would also say I'm a very confident person. I don't really get nervous over interviews, tests, or basically everything. This is because I go in with my head high in everything I do. I know this may be perceived as cocky at times, but I just can't help it. I believe that if you have confidence, you are more likely to achieve the things you want to do.

I am a very dedicated person. If I set my mind to something, I will do whatever it takes to achieve it. No one can change my mind about it, once I'm set on something, there is not going back.

I would say I'm a very intelligent person. I don't interpret things at face level and like to do more research and analysis on everything, I can pretty much have a conversation with someone about anything.

Lastly, I am very selfless. I put other peoples need over myself, even if it is inconvenient on my end I will still put up with it to please the other person.

The first person I interviewed was my sister Tara. She told me that she really looked up to my confidence, and she wishes she was as confident as I am in everything I do, especially test taking. It made me happy that I am able to be a positive influence in her life.

The second person I interviewed was my boyfriend Isaac. He told me that all the qualities I mentioned is what made me different from any other girl. He really admired my selflessness and generosity which he said weren't very common among people nowadays.

The third person I interviewed was my dad. He told me that he really admired my intelligence. He always tells me how much he looks up to me and encourages me to continue all the amazing things I'm doing because he knows I will be very successful in the future.

The fourth person I interviewed was my mom. She told me my confidence is something she really likes about me because she sees me as a reflection of herself, so she's happy that she passed on the confidence she has to me. She also emphasized how confidence can really help you in life.

The fifth person I interviewed was my boss. She told me I am a very dedicated and driven hard worker. She trusts me with a lot of things at work and has told me that I am a very valuable asset in the workplace. She also told me she is happy to have me working alongside her.

All of the interviews with the individuals I chose bascially told me the same things I mentioned about myself. The qualities they discussed they admired the most about me were the same qualities I thought made myself unique from everyone else. Not to sound full of myself, but I am very happy with my personality and how I have developed as a person.
 

15A Figuring Out Buyer Behavior

For my interviews, I decided to speak with a UF pre-med professor, UF Chemistry TA, and a third-year UF Chemical Engineering student.

In my interview with the UF Pre-Med professor, he mentioned that completely changing the grading system at the university would be very absurd. He emphasized the need of weeding out the students who couldn't handle the difficult prerequisite courses so the department could only keep the best to pursue their major and remain successful in med school. He explained that an alternative to a changing grade system would be to allow more resources like Study Edge and Smokin Notes to be available to students. He also encouraged students to take advantage of the free tutors at the Broward Teacher Center and office hours. Lastly, he did not want the standard of the university to go down with the "easier" grading policy.

The chemistry TA I interviewed with agreed with my idea. She said that when students have low pass rates it reflects poorly on her performance as a TA too. The professor looks very closely at their students pass rates in each of the TA's section for the course. However, she suggested that when presenting the official proposal to the UF Registrar, the signatories should be students with high GPA's so the university does not think that students with low GPA's are the only ones trying to reform.

The last person I interviewed was a third-year chemical engineering student. She thought my idea was good, however she was concerned about how we were going to propose this to the UF Registrar. Therefore, she suggested that we should have a petition signed and get a certain amount of signatures so then we can present this proposal to the UF Registrar so they can hopefully consider making some changes.

In the interviews, my interviewees were concerned with proposal and the standard of the university. The proposal is a main concern because since UF is a top 10 public school, it is difficult to propose a grading system that allows students to have a higher chance in passing their classes.

14A Halfway Reflection

1) I have acquired a lot of behaviors when interviewing others for my opportunity. It's crazy to think how specific you have to be with your audience when trying to appeal to your target. The behaviors I have acquired, I will definitely be using these behaviors when I run for office in the future. 

2) The times when I felt like giving up in this class was when I had to think of an idea that would be unique and appeal to other people in my group that would be reading my blog posts about it. I can say that I am not the most creative person ever so coming up with things on my own is difficult. This course however has allowed me to become more creative and openminded, allowing me to think in a way I haven't before. Seeing the positive responses on my posts has encouraged me to keep a positive mind as I get through this course and learn more about the basics of entrepreneurship. 

3) The tips I recommend for the upcoming students are making sure you don't cram the assignments in because it will take away from the learning experience, don't forget to declare the assignments, and as long as you keep up with the lectures and complete the homework you will be fine. As for assignment declaring, I hope I will be forgiven for the three assignments I did but forgot to declare on canvas. 

13A: Reading Reflection No. 1

For this assignment, I decided to do a reading reflection on Steve Jobs. As an owner of almost all Apple products, I thought it would be interesting to get to know more about him and how he was able to become one of the most successful people in the world.

1) A. What surprised me the most about Steve Jobs was that he was involved in 70% of Pixar's stake. I did not think Steve Jobs had any correlation to Pixar until I read this book. I also was surprised to hear that he was adopted.

    B. What admired me the most about Steve Jobs was how much dedication and drive he had to make Apple the best tech company in the world. I love how effective he was in persuading other companies, even Microsoft to work him despite the rivalry they have. I also really liked that with each criticism he received for his products, he went above and beyond to create something better and add something extra, such as when he received criticism over the iPad but then added the program Garage Band to it.

   C. What I least admired about Steve Jobs was that he spent so much time on his career that he neglected spending time with his family. I also did not like how he insisted on using natural treatments instead of treatments that would most probably guarantee him to live a longer life and allow him to be with his family. I thought that it was a little selfish of him. His family had to suffer his absence because of his career and had to go through the dismay of his lack of well being due to his cancer.

   D. Steve Jobs did encounter adversity and failure, but he used it as a lesson and learned to better improve himself and his products. For example, when he came out with the iPhone 4, critics were saying his prices were too high. However, him and his team proved them wrong and ended up exceeding the amount of sales than expected on the iPhone 4. I remember being in middle school when the iPhone 4 came out. Everyone was going crazy for it because it was the coolest thing on the market at the time.

2. As mentioned above, Steve Jobs competencies were that he had the ability to take failure and make it a lesson which would help him better improve his products. Also, he had an excellent skill in negotiating with different companies and signing contracts with them to do collaborative work. This helped him form connections and improve his brand with the skills he learned from others.

3. What was confusing to me was why did Steve Jobs biological parents put him up for adoption just because his mother's family didn't approve of his father because he was Muslim. Couldn't they just get divorced and decide who would take custody of the child? I just didn't understand why they put him up for adoption.

4. If I were to Steve Jobs two questions, it would be why did he only believe in receiving natural treatment for his cancer and if he kept a notebook of all his future ideas for Apple before he died that he left with the new CEO? The first question I believe is relevant because if he were to be open to receiving other types of treatment I believe that he would be able to live longer. The last question I also believe to be relevant because I'm just curious to know to what extent he has thought about the future of Apple's creations before he died. Also, it would be cool to know what was Steve Jobs's ideas and what is the new CEO's ideas.

5. Steve Jobs was a firm believer in hard work. In one of the last chapters of his book he wrote “I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product.” It showed that he was dedicated in making sure Apple was superior to Android, and he was willing to do whatever to prove that to the world.

12A: Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

Segment: For this segment I chose to interview students because they are the ones that are impacted the most by the grading policies at UF. Plus, some students are TAs in some of their classes so I would be killing two birds with one stone

1. 2nd year Female Engineering Major: I interviewed this girl who I normally see on the bus that is studying electrical engineering at UF. When I told her about my idea to propose a change in the grading system at UF, she expressed so much enthusiasm about how much it would benefit her. She was telling me that her semesters consist of constant studying and she feels like shes not getting the college experience. At times, she feels depressed because she's not able to have fun due to the excessive amount of work she has and the difficulty of her classes.

2.  5th year Male Political Science Major: I interviewed this random guy at the library, I spoke with him about my idea proposal and he thought it would be an amazing idea as well. He told me that he did 4 years of engineering but due to amount of stress his courses were giving him, he had to take a year off of school and then changed his major to Political Science. He said that if the grading system was not as difficult and he wasn't discouraged mentally because of the difficulty of his courses, he might have still been able to pursue engineering.

3. 3rd year Female Chemistry Major: I interviewed this girl that we share a mutual friend with. She is a Chemistry major as well as a Chemistry TA. She agreed with my idea as well. As a TA, she was saying how alot of the students come to her for help and some of them no matter what they do they aren't able to get that perfect 4.0 GPA for that class on their transcripts because it's so difficult. She was also saying that as TAs if their section does not get a certain pass rate they will be held accountable by not being asked to help teach the class again. Lastly, she was saying how many students are dropping the class and the curves are so high on the exams due to the overall low performance.

Report: I gathered that many students would agree with my idea and see many benefits for them if this were to get implemented.

Conclusion: This segment is one that benefits the most from my opportunity. Most students aspire to go to grad school after undergrad and are wanting to do their absolute best to impress grad school admissions counselors. UF is already a very difficult school, however the overall performance of students and their mental state should be taken account due to all the increased stress they are in.

11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

1)You:  I am a 2nd year Political Science student. I love learning about different places and traveling around the world. I also am a part-time blogger where I use it to write about different political issues. I aspire to become a politician and lawyer. As cheesy as this may sound, I want to be the change I want to see in the world, and pursuing these careers will allow me to do so. Regarding my opportunity, if I were to pursue a proposal about removing plus and minus grades in the grading system, I believe it will be a positive change not only for me but for other students at UF.

2)Offering to customers:  My opportunity offers students the chance to earn higher grades, which will benefit them if they wish to pursue graduate school. My opportunity also allows higher pass rates for courses which increases the professor's reviews and TA's as well. My opportunity also benefits parents because they witness the increased amount of stress their child is going through just to earn these really high grades.

3) Who are you offering it to: I'm offering my opportunity to the UF Office of the University Registrar, which records student grades. They are in charge of the grading policy so any new proposals have to be approved by them before anything happens.

4) Why do they care: Nowadays, many students are more sensitive and suspectible to excess amounts of stress, especially during their college years. Also, professors and TA's can have higher pass rates in their classes which increases their status among the university.

5) What are your core competencies: I believe as a a student I have an advantage in identifying this opportunity and making efforts to change the current grading policy. My changes will make a huge difference and leave a widespread impact on everyone at the University of Florida.

Most of my elements do fit together, and somehow aligns with my interests in politics and law. In politics, you are always trying to promote change in a society and do what it takes to help people live more comfortably. The only challenge about this plan is that UF being a top 10 university, it is very unlikely that they would want to lower their standards and make it easier for students to get the grades they want. The biggest challenge will be to try to convince the university registrar that making changes to the grading policy won't decrease the prestige of UF.

10C: Elevator Pitch #1

Hey everyone!

This is my elevator pitch for implementing a new grading policy at the University of Florida!

9A: Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

9A: Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

In my first post regarding testing the hypothesis, I introduced the proposal of UF removing the (+) and (-) in the grading system. This opportunity will benefit all UF students. I interviewed five people, ranging from parents, students and professors regarding this opportunity. Each individual has provided their own insight on the topic.

Outside the boundary

Who: Students who already receive straight a's and students of other universities

What: The new grading policy won't make a difference because these students are already getting straight a's. Also, this policy is only being implemented at the University of Florida so students at other schools won't be affected by it.

Why?: Some people expressed how this policy would lower the standard of the university, especially since our university is a top 10 and striving to be a top 5. Another concern people have expressed is that in graduate school these students will have a harder time because they have been given lower standards to abide by right now. Also, in top professions it is important to only have the best of the best that's why it's important to weed out the people who aren't as good early on so they can pursue something more appropriate for them

Inside my boundary:
- UF students pursuing harder majors
- Parents
- Professors
- TA's

Outside my boundary:
- Grad schools 
- Employers (particularly of professional careers)
- UF
  

8A: Solving the Problem

My opportunity of changing the grading policy at UF in not including plus and minus grades will have an immense amount of benefits. Allowing these new changes in the grading system will allow more students to get higher GPA's, increase the pass rate of the courses, and allow more TA's the opportunity to teach again because some are getting paid. The opportunity will mostly allow students to not stress as much about being a point away from an A- to an A.

For this opportunity to occur, the UF Academic Regulations need to be revised. First, the approval of faculty members and university officials would have to be requested until it can proceed. It could take probably a year to draft the proposal and propose it then become implemented into university policy. It is important that students are aware of these changes so they can try to endure less stress while putting in the maximum effort for their 4.0 GPA's.

7A Testing the Hypothesis, Part I

1) As a student at the University of Florida, I have witnessed many students trying to endure the stress of their difficult courses. Now that UF is a top 10 university, professors have made their courses a lot more difficult to raise the standard of the university. Therefore, an opportunity I proposed was that the university make amendments to the grading scale. Besides giving out A and A-'s, it should just be A,B,C, etc. This would help increase the pass rates of the course, and allow fewer stress for students.

2) a."Who" UF students
    b. "What" changing the grading scale
    c. "Why" to prevent students from getting completely stressed out, allowing them to have a higher GPA, and increasing the pass rates in the classes

3) a. The first person I interviewed was a UF engineering student. He expressed how beneficial a policy like this would be for himself and the rest of the students in his major. Engineering is one of the hardest majors at UF and many students are constantly studying but still struggling to maintain that 4.0 and end up dropping the course.

    b. The second person I interviewed was a TA. She also expressed how a grading system like this would be amazing because if more students pass a class with her, she will be able to continue being a TA, which she gets paid for.

    c.  The third person I interviewed was a UF pre-med chemistry professor. He actually disagreed with the system because he said that in the future when these students don't endure the stress and effort of these rigorous courses they will not be able to be successful in their careers. He thinks only those who can succeed in this course with or without the new grading scale should be able to pursue these intense, hard working professional careers.

    d. The fourth person I interviewed was a psychology major at UF. She stated that this new grading policy wouldn't really make a difference for her because she is already getting straight A's at UF anyways. She believes if someone is really dedicated to their schoolwork, they will do whatever it takes to be successful.

   e. The last person I interviewed was UF parent. He said that witnessing all the stress his son goes through he believes changes should be made to the grading system.

After interviewing everyone, it really helped me understand all the different perspectives on this topic. Personally, I believe this will benefit a lot of students and a little bit of a weight will be lifted off their shoulders. 

6A Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Economic Trends 

Opportunity 1: More millennials are living at home 

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2018/06/27/millennials-student-loans-housing/#183435bc226a

Why it exists?: Statistics have shown that more millennials are financially dependent on their parents compared to the Baby Boomers and Generation X. Many American students after graduating college are drowning in debt, so they can't afford much, especially with the increasing price of housing

Customer with the opportunity: Banks giving off loans to these students, because they are being paid in interest making so much more than what the student has borrowed from them. They are benefitting the most from this cause. 

Opportunity easy or hard to exploit?: I believe the opportunity is hard to exploit because there are always going to be students that will take out loans, because they haven't received scholarships and their parents can't help them out financially with their tuition and housing, which is leading them to live at home after graduation

Why do I see the opportunity?: Because as a college student I am seeing the statistics and because many people can't get jobs or live on their own after graduation, they go live back home with their parents. 

Opportunity 2: NY Ok'd Tuition Free College for Middle Class 

Source: https://money.cnn.com/2017/04/08/pf/college/new-york-free-tuition/index.html

Why it exists?: Many students are graduating college drowning in thousands of dollars worth of death which is putting alot of pressure on these students. Especially, due to the competitive job market that's making it harder for these new college grads to find a job. 

Customer with the opportunity:  The state of New York, because with the scholarship if the student leaves the state, it will be converted into a loan. Therefore, the student will be able to contribute in New York's job market to improve the state. The student also benefits from this opportunity because they don't have to worry about their college debt when they graduate and establish their savings. 

Opportunity easy or hard to exploit?: It is easy to exploit. As long as your family income qualifies for the scholarship and you stay in New York for the same amount of years that you received the scholarship for then it's pretty easy. 

Why do I see the opportunity?: I see this opportunity because being a college student and hearing in the news the constant debate over awarding free tuition for college students is all over. 

Opportunity 3: President Trump implementing a trade policy

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-43512098

Why it exists? President Trump believes China is practicing unfair trade. With tariffs on foreign goods, it boosts the country's industry, so it doesnt rely so much on other countries for imports. 

Customer with the opportunity: companies in the United States, as well as workers here

Opportunity easy or hard to exploit: It is easy to exploit that's why President Trump implemented a policy that all goods that come from China must have a tariff attached to it. This will discourage China from selling goods to us, and encourage the US to rely on its own industry. 

Why do I see the opportunity?: I see the opportunity because this has been a hot debate throughout Trumps' presidency. 

Opportunity 4: Increase in Sale's Tax 

Source: https://www.avalara.com/taxrates/en/blog/2018/09/california-sales-tax-rate-changes-october-2018.html

Why it exists?: Because in California, the minimum wage is higher than the rest of the country, therefore it means that the people of California have to pay more in taxes to compensate for the higher amount that they're making. 

Customer with the opportunity: Businesses in California 

Opportunity easy or hard to exploit: Easy to exploit because this has been a factor of being in the state of California which is well-known throughout the country and has always been in place. 

Why do I see the opportunity? Because I have friends in California that will talk about the higher cost of living and higher income they get living there, so I'm familiar with the topic. 

5A Identifying Local Opportunities

All the articles I have retrieved are from the Tampa Bay Times 

Opportunity 1: Franchises Ding McDonald's Wall 

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASPTB%21Tampa%2BBay%2BTimes%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0124%21January%2B24&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/17128B96391E0648

Story: McDonald's new store design proposal to build a wall between the cashier and kitchen, so customers are not able to see the kitchen equipment, or other things behind the cashier register. People who own McDonald's franchises are not happy with this proposal because they feel that it is unnecessary and a waste of money. They also think that a wall between the kitchen and cashiers will not benefit in terms of customer service as well. 

Problem: The wall, also known as SAM (service area modernization) would not only be a waste of money,  but it could also be a bad idea to include in the store. With this wall, at least one cashier would need to be present by the register, because the people in the kitchen would not be able to monitor the restaurant. It carries its own risks because if a cashier isn't present or busy with another customer and a bad person enters the restaurant, then it is a recipe for disaster.

Who has the problem?:  The McDonald's franchisees have the problem with building the SAM wall. "Franchisees own more than 90 percent of McDonald’s 37,000 locations globally." Therefore, all of these franchisees have to pay extra for something they believe to be useless.

Opportunity 2: Drinking Water on Hold  

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASPTB%21Tampa%2BBay%2BTimes%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0122%21January%2B22&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/1711D749C1681B80

Story: Clearwater, Florida was supposed to implement a system that would treat wastewater in a way that could then be used as drinking water for citizens. Clearwater was the first city in Florida to use this system for their water supply. Construction for the plant has started, however the city has had to stop construction because the costs were more than the city had anticipated. The benefits of this system would be amazing, because of the many bodies of water that exist in surrounding areas, so they could reuse water to then provide to citizens 

Problem: The construction of the wastewater plant has been put to a stop, due to lack of budgeting. Becuase of this, the city may have to ask its residents to pay more in their water bills, to help with this payment, but in return after the facility is built, they will have the highest treated water in the entire state. 

Who has the problem: The city of Clearwater is facing this issue, because they budgeted for the plant less money than what the actual plant costs. 

Opportunity 3: A New 50-Story Condo Building Seems A Bit Much 

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASPTB%21Tampa%2BBay%2BTimes%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0121%21January%2B21&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/1711E290CEB75580

Story: A new 50-story condo is going to be built in downtown St. Petersburg 

Problem: There's already alot of luxury residences in downtown St. Petersburg, and it's stripping away from the original vibe of the town

Who has the problem?: Residents of the city of St. Petersburg. They would rather have structures built that are relevant to the town's overall vibe, not more luxury residences that are already taking over the entire downtown. 

Opportunity 4: Sweetwater Paddles Downstream: From Gandy to the Old Southwest 

Story: The local company Sweetwater Kayaks is moving to a new location after conducting business from the same place for many years 

Problem: The state opened an elevated portion of Gandy Boulevard two years ago, which really affected the Sweetwater Paddles business. 

Who has the problem?: Sweetwater Kayaks owner Russell Farrow is going to miss the shop, especially the "eclectic layout and ample space for dozens of kayaks and stand-up paddle boards." However, the store at the new location has lower rent and east access to the water which could help his business recover from before, by running guided kayak tours from the new shop. 

Opportunity 5: Sprouts is Sprouting New Stores 

https://infoweb-newsbank-com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&t=pubname%3ASPTB%21Tampa%2BBay%2BTimes%2B%2528FL%2529/year%3A2019%212019/mody%3A0110%21January%2B10&f=advanced&action=browse&format=text&docref=news/170DEE1551F73A58

Story: Sprouts Farmers market is opening three new stores, Two in Tampa and One in Clearwater 

Problem: Since these new stores will be the chain's fifth location, it will create a more competitive market in that area. 

Who has the problem?: The company because they may not make as much profit as the other stores due to the other speciality and organic food stores that also exist within the same area range. 

4A Opportunity Belief

I believe that there is an opportunity for the University of Florida to place free feminine products in more places throughout campus other than the Infirmary and Wellness Center. If the university is already giving out free condoms, then I don't see why they can't also give out free menstrual products. There has always been a need for menstrual products on campus and UF Student Government has proposed the bill,  but a vote has not allowed it to pass. Therefore, the opportunity is there since efforts have been made before to implement this.

For this, I interviewed three people about this matter. They are all female, and have the same stance as me on this issue

Person #1: The exact nature of this need (for women) is that they want to be comfortable while they are menstruating. Menstrual products are already very expensive, so it would give women a peace of mind if they're going to the bathroom and accidentally forgot to bring their pad or tampon with them, then they would be able to just grab a free one from the bathroom. Students on campus have proposed this issue and brought it to UF Student Government, however it did not pass.

Person #2: Being on a college campus, not many students have access to cars so it's difficult for females to make monthly trips to the store to buy menstrual products. Therefore, it is easier for college campuses to have free menstrual products around in case a student has difficulty trying to get outside of campus without a car.

Person #3: With UF having a well-known reputation for sports, they will be easily be able to sign contracts with female hygiene companies and buy their products in bulk to distribute to students on campus. In return, during UF's sports events they can advertise these countries which well help sell more of their product as well. Plus, they could place the hygiene products in the bathroom. Also, with the current system for female hygiene products being $.25 to purchase a pad in the bathroom, it is very inconvenient because many people don't carry change around, especially college kids. College kids don't even carry cash around they are mostly reliant on their debit/credit cards and apps such as Venmo to transfer their money.

I believe that the University of Florida can still continue to make efforts to make free menstrual products available to students on campus. Other schools are implementing this on their campuses already. Especially, if this matter has already been proposed to Student Government, then we have taken the right steps forward. We just need more students to be more dedicated to the cause and push for this kind of reform on our campus. This opportunity does exist because as a top 10 university, wre have a reputation to uphold. If many other universities, that are't even top 10 are able to offer this for their students then UF can too.

3A- My Entrepreneurship Story

Throughout my life I was never involved with entrepreneurship, until I became apart of the Innovation Academy at the University of Florida.

Over the summer when I was taking Creativity in Action, we had to create something that would help with biodiversity. and showcase our prototype at Catalyst where we could potentially win an award as well for our creation.

My group and I created a product called OY DAM! It was basically a natural water filtration system using oysters to reduce pollution in our waters. There was a lot of conflict finding an idea that would successfully be implemented in the real world. However, with a lot of teamwork and research, we were able to tackle the problem of biodiversity with OY DAM! At Catalyst, we also ended up winning the Gator Good award.

I am enrolled in ENT3003 because the Innovation Academy minor requires it. What I hope to learn from this course is the principles of entrepreneurship that I can maybe apply to my own life one day if I ever decide to start my own business.

Assignment 2A: Bug List

Bug List 

Hi everyone! Here is a list of things that bother me so I hope you can relate to some of them.

 1) Messy Room
       -Why? It often leads to germs and discomfort. I don't like it when things aren't in place, it makes me very anxious. Also, I do most of my school work in my room so when it's clean it allows me to focus more on what I'm doing

2) When my mom turns everything into a lecture 
      - Why? My mom cares a lot about me so she always makes sure I'm doing the right thing. However, not everything I say has to be turned into some sort of life lesson. I think I should feel comfortable telling my parents something without them trying to lecture me about it. It makes me not want to tell them anything at times

3)  Fake people
     - Why? Realizing you have fake people around you can be very depressing. I believe that if you truly have a lot of hatred towards someone then why do you bother to put on an act just to be around them? Wouldn't it be more reasonable to waste all the energy into making someone you don't like think you like them, towards someone that you actually like and will get along better with

4)  Mistreatment of the people I love and care about 
     -  Why? No one ever wants their loved ones to be mistreated. I have a soft-spot for the loved ones in my life so it personally affects me when I see or hear that they are getting mistreated by others. I take that mistreatment as if it happened to me

5) Not being appreciated 
     -  Why? People get depressed or very upset when they see all the effort the put into people is one-sided. I put a lot of effort into all the different relationships I have so I expect that I get some sort of appreciation in return because it will drive me to do more in those relationships

6) When people have no manners
     -  Why? Not having mannerisms places alot of emphasis on how you are as an individual, which many people use to judge you. I believe manners go hand and hand with being a decent human being, which make the world a much better place.

7) Being stuck in traffic 
     - Why? The road is shared by all the citizens in one area, and everyone has different places to get to. I have better things to do than wait an extended period of time because of the increased amount of cars on the road. Plus, I'm wasting gas because I'm waiting a longer time to get to my destination

8) Parking on campus
    - Why? There is fewer parking than students on campus. It takes a lot of time to find a spot, and also some of the spots will be far away from the library I'm trying to study at so it wastes a lot of my time when I could be studying

9) When professors don’t answer their emails 
     - Why? It makes me think they don't care to help their students. I probably am really struggling with something so to ensure my success, prevent me from going insane and getting stressed out, a response from my professor would be very nice

10) People flaking last minute 
     - Why? It's just very rude and inconsiderate. It just ruins plans most of the time, especially if I have rearranged my schedule just for that person

11) When the person in front of me is walking slow because they’re on their phone
     - Why? I believe people need to be aware of their surroundings and paying attention to your phone while walking is dangerous. Also, the person behind you may be in a rush, so it's good to be considerate for the sake of yourself and the person behind them

12) When you come back to a messy closet because you were trying to pick out an outfit 
     - Why? Messiness and disorganization makes it harder to find things. I will have to clean everything up again which takes a long time, because I messed up my entire closet trying to find the outfit I wanted to wear.

13)  When I'm doing winged eyeliner and it doesn’t match the other eye 
     - Why? It affects your appearance. When it looks uneven it means that I will have to get rid of the eyeliner and do both eyes again, which is annoying because the black eyeliner will get in other parts of my face so I have to end up washing the face makeup I did too

14) When people ask irrelevant questions
    - Why? It's just a waste of time to ask questions that you know the answer won't benefit you or anyone else in the future

15) When people show off 
    - Why? I believe people should be humble and how much they make and what brand they wear doesn't make a difference to others and doesn't define them as a person

16)  When it takes the bus a long time to come to the bus stop
    - Why? Because I don't want to be late to my class

17) When a coupon you want to use is expired
    - Why? Some people may not afford to buy things full price. It's annoying because I was trying to save money and will have to pay the original amount without the coupon

18) When your pen runs out of ink while doing an assignment
    - Why? Because I won't be able to use it and I feel weird asking someone else if they have one

19) When attendance is mandatory for an 8:30am class
    - Why? It's too early and most of the time in lectures that are at 8:30am no one is paying attention they are just on their laptops texting and end up teaching themselves the material before the exams

20) When people get triggered over my politics 
   - Why? Different upbringings and cultures have different beliefs about certain issues. I admire the fact that people have different viewpoints and have an open mind about them. I also believe intolerance further divides a society so we as individuals need to learn how to be more tolerant and open-minded.




Reflection: It was a little difficult coming up with things because I'm generally a very tolerant person. The challenge I saw with this bug list was that it forced me to think about what really bothered me in my everyday life, which made me think. This also applies to entrepreneurs because they have to brainstorm and go through a range of ideas until the stick to the one that works best for them.

Practice Blog

Hi this is Sara, and this is my practice blog post.