Final Reflection

1) After reading my posts from throughout the semester I can honestly say that I think I have grown as a student and a person while taking this class and working on my blog posts. My writing has become more refined and I have done a much better job of getting my point across as the semester has progressed. I owe this to consistently writing each week for these assignments as well as the creative and unique questions which require me to think outside of the box and solve problems.

2) The experiences that I will remember the most from this class is learning about the entrepreneurial spirit and what it means to be an entrepreneur. The three books that I read throughout the semester were very informative and two of them were books about famous entrepreneurs and pioneers. I read Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonald's by Ray Kroc and The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. Reading about these three pioneers in their respective fields was inspiring and informative. The passion and drive of Ray Kroc and the Wright Brothers to be successful stood out to me and will be memorable to me for years to come. These men embody what it means to be an entrepreneur and taught me so much about entrepreneurship.

3) I think that I have come a long way towards developing an entrepreneurial mindset. Instead of seeing problems as insurmountable obstacles, I now see them as possibilities for solutions. Before I was somewhat skeptical as to how hard it actually was to be an entrepreneur but I now realize how much knowledge and insight is required in order to develop a product/service which solves problems of a consumer. So many things go into developing these solutions and being able to market them and develop a product which is sought after by consumers AND profitable. I definitely have more respect now for entrepreneurs and the creativity for problem-solving required. I am grateful to this class for allowing me to view society through an entrepreneurial lens and identifying opportunities.

4) The best recommendation that I would give upcoming students is to be creative and unique when attempting to solve problems. Thinking outside of the box allows you to come up with solutions that other people might not have thought of. I would also recommend working on the assignments early and allowing ideas to grow over the week rather than the night before the assignment is due. Procrastination leads to poor work and ideas generally and is best avoided.