Practicum
For my practicum, I decided to take ENES 210: Entrepreneurial Opportunity Analysis and Decision-Making in the 21st Century. The class delves into what it takes to create a start-up company, starting with the planning, the R&D, and marketing to your potential customers. The class meets synchronously once a week and has multiple weekly assignments and quizzes, which culminate in a final project. The best part is this class has no exams.
Identifying my practicum
I referred to the PowerPoint presentation Kelly gave during CPMS 225. In this slideshow, she detailed the multiple ways to complete your practicum, and one of the ways was to sign up for the 3 credit course called ENES 210.
My advice for future Media Scholars is to decide in the fall semester of your sophomore year how you want to complete your practicum. If you want to take a course, be sure to plan it out in your four-year plan so you can make sure you have room to take an additional course.
What did I learn?
Having never had any experience regarding start-up businesses, I learned what it takes to come up with a product or service and then converting that into a successful business venture. Understanding that it requires sufficient capital, a team of founders and advisors, and a creative marketing campaign is crucial to any start-up. These skills and the entire process is taught through ENES 210 and I am so glad to have learned this.
My growth
See the attached spreadsheet
Not only have I learned about the qualitative behaviors any start-up founder needs, but I also learned about the quantitative measures needed to plan out a start-up. The button below is a link to a spreadsheet I used to calculate my income statement, which states the revenues, expenses, and net profit. This spreadsheet is a prime example of my growth as a student and professional because this is a skill that can and will be applicable should I decide to create my own start-up. The income statement is a concept that is taught in accounting classes but is applicable to the entrepreneurial field, as well. Through learning this, it has been added to my toolkit of skills that will be applicable to the real world.
Applying my experience
By learning about entrepreneurship, I will apply these skills to my major and career choices. I am currently double majoring in Supply Chain Management and Information Systems and as a business major, it is pertinent that I learn about entrepreneurship, as well. In five or ten years, should I decide to create my own start-up business, I will already be equipped with the skills to get the ball rolling. My practicum has also improved my soft skills of developing long-standing relationships with potential founders and advisors, and this skill can be used when developing relationships with my future coworkers and bosses.
My plans
For the rest of my time here at UMD, I plan on making up for lost opportunities caused by the ongoing pandemic. I plan on competing in UMD's version of "Survivor," as well as joining the executive board of the clubs I am already in.
My goal for academics is to continue to stay on the Dean's List and further improve my GPA so that it can be as competitive as it can be when applying for graduate schools. As for post-graduation and my prospective career, I hope to utilize my Masters in Supply Chain Management to become a lead product manager at Amazon.