30A – Final Reflection

The End of Our Journey & The Beginning of Your Journey

The last several months have been extraordinarily useful in stretching my mind to think outside the margins, and at the same time, more concisely on details important to the assignment directives. While in most instances I did not find the assignment description to be easy, I understood the relevance as soon as I freed my mind from thinking I could just bulldoze my way to completion. One of the more formative tasks was that of the ‘Bug List’. Being requested to seek out and identify my unmet needs did not come easy. Attempting to make a list during the day of all the things that bug me pushed me to think extremely deeply. Once complete however I thoroughly understood why my mind needed to be trained. From then on, the groundwork had been set for future assignments.

 One of the more formative experiences we undertook was that of the idea napkin. Sketching out my business concept was a very enlightening process. From the experience, I can easily find the future me contemplating opportunities ventures, all while sketching an outline on a napkin. In thinking of a joyous experience, I would include the elevator pitch. The elevator pitch would occupy both my proudest and joyous moment. I recalled when you outlined the assignment While I don’t believe you said it directly, it was heavily implied that prior students may have decided to forego the visual presentation exercise. It was because of this I challenged myself to not only complete it, but also enjoy the practice. Having completed it successfully and receiving positive feedback gave me immense pride and self-assuredness.

After the completion of this course, I do see myself as an entrepreneur. In a short time under your tutelage, I was able to advance my thoughts and perspectives. It was almost as if the sky opened. It wasn’t always easy, however. Many times, I found my mind putting up a barrier to the creative seeds you attempted to sow. At times my mind won, and other times I was able to break through the barriers because of your unassuming passion. Since the beginning of this class I have decidedly taken more risk than I had previously all in pursuit of taking advantage of opportunity. I directly associate this new awakening with past lectures during the semester.

One recommendation I would make for students going down this journey in the future, is to trust the process. While many of the exercises seemed tedious and unreasonably repetitious, they were not. Your mind not being used to this level of creative thinking wants to find the logic in the exercise prior to its completion. Attempting to find the logic on the outset and not- was at times very frustrating. Only after releasing my inhibitions to the exercise did I have those a-ha moments. Every time they occurred; I credited the genius to Dr. Pryor!

To perform best in this course, you absolutely must not wait until the last minute to complete your assignments. These activities have an element of fun associated with them. When they are rushed, it is missed. Not only is it missed, but you also miss the assignment’s overall intent. To foster the correct mindset, I would suggest making this class the priority in your overall development regardless of whatever career path you decide on. Take this class serious and invest the time to your proper development.