Final Reflection

Throughout this course there are numerous different experiences that stand out to me, but one in particular stands out to me as being formative, memorable, and joyous all at the same time. This experience was the Special Sauce assignment. This experience was so cool to me. Once I was done with it I felt like I had learned so much about myself and how others, my friends and family, view me. The realization of how I viewed myself I thought was quite telling, while finding out how others saw me made me feel really really good. The difference between these two raised quite a few questions within me, I was and still am curious why I zeroed in on some aspects of myself while others focused on different aspects, perhaps ones that are more outwardly visible. My proudest accomplishment of this semester is probably my completion of the elevator pitches. I got off to a rough start with some technical difficulties that prevented me from getting it in before the deadline, so I was determined to do it right the second time around. It turned out fairly well, but there were still quite a few things I wanted to change, especially once I received my feedback. After lots of practice, across all three pitches, and many revisions to the pitch itself, my third pitch was one that I was exceptionally proud of. The result definitely mirrored the amount of effort I put into it.

I think that, over the course of this semester, I have definitely gotten closer and closer to having an entrepreneurial mindset. However, I do not consider myself an entrepreneur. I know that I have the skills to become one, but I think the big thing missing for me is the drive towards entrepreneurship. Although my business idea is one that I am proud of, and one that I have a personal stake in as well, it is most likely not something I would pursue in real life, and I think the same holds true for entrepreneurship in general. I have aspirations that will lead me in a completely different direction. If I do at some point stumble into entrepreneurship in my career, though, I know I will have the skills to do it right.

My biggest recommendation to students who will take this course in the future would be to foster within yourself a desire to learn entrepreneurship, and to treat every assignment as if you truly are doing it for the sake of a real company. To best perform in this course, and in online courses in general, I would definitely suggest maintaining a rigorous schedule for completing assignments, one that has you completing assignments days before they are due instead of hours or minutes. I think that taking the course as seriously as possible, buying into the idea of the course as I mentioned above, is key to fostering this success.