1) Read through your posts from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.
- Based on all of my posts from the semester, I didn't necessarily have any lows or moments of drudgery. I found each assignment/blog post to be interesting to write. The highs from all the posts would be the ones where I was able to have more creative freedom like the "what's next" post or the "what's your secret sauce." I found the most challenging assignments to be the interviews because it was hard to summarize exactly what I learned when talking to people and was overall difficult to find people who would be a good match for the assignment.
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?
- The most formative experience for me in this class was finding something that I was passionate about and imagining myself making a product out of that. It was fun to do research about my potential product and research people who have done similar things and be able to tweak it to be a truly unique product. I also think it was fun to do research on how exactly I could create my product since I am already so passionate and interested in the leather industry, and finding possible sustainable materials was very entertaining for me.
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?
- I don't necessarily see myself as an entrepreneur, as I find the business world to be very boring and I couldn't ever really see myself being at the forefront of it, however, I do think the idea of creating a product to be very intriguing. I have always had this idea of creating a good leather alternative, so it was fun to really research the idea and explore it more in-depth. I definitely have learned more about what exactly becoming an entrepreneur entails and am now more open to the idea of starting my own company one day.
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?
- I would recommend future students understand that the product they chose in the first few assignments is going to be the one that is discussed for the entirety of the entirety class, so make sure you really want to talk about it and have a passion for it. I didn't really know when I first decided on my product that I would be focusing on it for the entire class, so I am glad I chose the product I did and it was something that could be expanded upon and something I am truly interested in.
