Assignment 3A - My Entrepreneurship Story

     During my senior year of high school, as a recipient of the Take Stock in Children (TSIC) scholarship I attended a graduation ceremony for the TSIC scholars, where I met Mr. Barrington Irving. I was introduced to Mr. Irving by Brian, who was my mentor at the time. Brian did not personally know Mr. Irving, but he took it upon himself to introduce me after Irving delivered the speech he had been called for. In his speech, Mr. Irving talked of how at the age of 23, he became the youngest person to fly solo around the world. Mr. Irving explained that he was able to accomplish this with only $30 in his pockets, as he decided that he would complete the feat using that and any capital he was able to raise. After previously believing that his only avenue out of inner city Miami would be football, Irving was mentored by a Jamaican airline pilot, and he later founded the non-profit Experience Aviation which helped with raising the funds for his travels and eventual lead to the founding of Experience Aviation Learning Center. That company offers STEM-based programs and guidance to middle and high school students in the Miami-Dade area.
     Throughout my meeting with him, Mr. Irving continued to reinforce the necessity for connections and perseverance, as he believed that long with passion, those would be the qualities that would foster my success. As I watched him speak, I came to the realization that he truly meant those words. He was a man who achieved success through chance encounters and the pure strength of his will. He was living evidence that the more work you put in, the more likely you are to succeed. Irving was also a man who was able to succeed and then uplift his community through his entrepreneurial work. My mentor told him about my entrepreneurial desires and Irving simply told me to work on something that I saw wrong or was passionate about, and I have held that with me since.

     I enrolled in this class because I have always thought it to be my destiny to eventually own a business. I have never even had the faintest idea what the business would be, but I always thought that would be my eventual destination. After meeting Barrington Irving, I decided that I should start developing myself and work towards that goal; yet I was still stuck with the same problem, I didn't know anything about starting a business and even if my Finance degree is to worth anything, it does not necessarily mean that I would succeed as an entrepreneur. After a recent talk with my academic adviser, I learned that I had to take 11 upper elective credits and this class was one of the recommended ones. Thus it feels somewhat destined that I should take this class.
     By taking this class, I hope to learn exactly what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur. I know that is something which might not be definitive, but at this point some knowledge is better than no knowledge. I need to know any relevant information on how to think like an entrepreneur and the hardships and daily grind that I should expect and know how to handle. At the very least, this class should be the first step in solidifying my entrepreneurial desires.