Media Scholars Practicum
Every Media, Self, and Society Scholars student must complete a practicum in addition to completing 3 classes in order to get their citation. For my practicum, I took a class called ENES210: Entrepreneurial Opportunity Analysis and Decision-Making Technology Ventures. The objectives of this course are :
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To develop an entrepreneurial perspective by studying psychological traits of entrepreneurship
To explore the opportunity discovery aspects for recognizing, developing and implementing successful new venture ideas
To understand the cognitive aspects of decision-making in entrepreneurship
To build analytical skills in the evaluation and selection of entrepreneurial opportunities
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The skills I learned were put to use through a semester-long project in which I gradually planned my own startup.​
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I found this class with the help of Program Coordinator, Kelly Brower. She sent a list of courses that would be relevant to me as a mechanical engineering student, while still fulfilling the media practicum requirement. Both Kelly and Program Director, Alison Burns are great resources in deciding what to do for your practicum and they are available via email.
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My practicum has taught me the steps to building a startup company and the strategies to make it successful. This included concepts such as finding founders, team strategy, market strategy, financial strategy, revenue model, etc.
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I will be able to use the knowledge from this course moving forward in my professional life because it applies to nearly any business. Therefore, I will be a more useful resource as an employee at a company. In addition, as an engineer, I will likely be contributing to the design and construction of products for companies to sell using some of the strategies I have discussed.
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This class has helped me grow as a person, a student, and a professional. Below is one of the weekly activities that I completed throughout this course. Identifying a problem and a solution in our society was the most challenging part of the project, but also the most eye-opening. Through the brainstorming process, I realized just how many challenges people face in their daily lives. It was a good wake-up call for me, and I now feel motivated to work hard to make a change through my future opportunities in the engineering field.
