- Am I an entrepreneur?
In my current line of work, I have worked very hard to solve the many problems that existed before I took over. I learned very quickly that just having ideas was not enough as I relied heavily on others to communicate my solutions. Over the past two years I have worked at building the confidence and communication skills to better serve myself and my coworkers. I would call myself an entrepreneur under the definitions provided by ODU. I aspire to build myself and my products to a level that can benefit society.
- What is success?
To me, success is a measure of how a person accomplishes their personal goals. Many people view success as a measure of the things a person has and the money they have amassed, but those things do not cover all that I believe success would encapsulate. I have financial goals and things that I want to own one day, but I also have intangible goals that I want to accomplish and experiences that I want to experience. I also believe that success is not an achievable status, but more of a constant drive. Continually pushing to accomplish more personal goals is a great measurement of success to me.
- Am I a self-starter? How well do I follow through on my ideas?
In my position, I am constantly developing new products and processes to be implemented. In terms of self-starting, my ideas are almost always developed on my own. I create many tools and processes to assist myself in my job. For follow-through, it is an intentionally mixed bag. Following through on ideas is incredibly important, but it is also very important to be cognizant of the feasibility of an idea. The sunk cost fallacy can be extremely difficult to avoid so it is always important to reassess the ideas throughout the development process. It can often be found that the project has actually gotten too unrealistic or complex to properly implement.
- How does ODU view entrepreneurship?
ODU views entrepreneurship as a positive way of thinking that encourages problem solving and communication. Entrepreneurship is not just about business and companies. It is about identifying problems and using knowledge to solve the problems. It is about being able to communicate the points that are required to accomplish your goals. It is about being able to fail and get back up again and push forward in your efforts. Entrepreneurship is a set of skills that allows us as individuals to solve problems and communicate ideas even in the face of failure and adversity.
- What is my role in this ecosystem?
I believe that my role in this ecosystem is as a creator or producer. My goal in my professional career is to develop processes and products that make lives easier. My current experience is in the automotive world, and my future is in IT and Cybersecurity. I hope to continue my contributions to the automotive industry for as long as I remain in the industry. In society, I hope my role is that of someone that leaves a positive impact. I hope to create things that help the people in my industry and potentially things that help the entire world.