Journal

(01/06/21)

(I am going to try and revamp my website over the next couple of weeks so bear with me as I clean it up. :))

Okay, so this is my very rough board. I chose some things about nature and travel because two of my big goals are to travel this summer and spend more time in nature whenever I can. Even I feel unmotivated to do so. I also put the friends cast on there because I really like the idea of having a group of friends that you can come to for anything and do anything with. I want to really solidify and strengthen my current relationships. I have so many lovely friends who are creative and talented and adventurous and I eagerly want to spend more time with them. (Covid and school and the snow have made that tricky in the recent weeks. I miss them dearly.) I put some dogs on there because anyone who knows me knows I. Love. Dogs. I want to spend more time with my pup.

The books and the paint palette represent my yearning to do more of both of those things. I think reading is relaxing and productive and it makes me feel nice so I have a goal to read more this year. I’m also an artist. It has taken me a while to consider myself one and think of myself as such but I finally have started recognizing that that’s what I am, that’s what I love to do! I have been feeling really unmotivated to create and I think I am starting to leave the rut I was stuck in.

Lastly, I have a random outfit I found. I think that clothing, for me personally, is really important. The way I dress directly affects my mood and vise versa. For example, if I am feeling bad I might opt for sweat pants and a T-shirt. But sometimes if I am feeling bad I will put on an outfit that makes me feel good about myself/body. I would like to find and work on my own style even more than I already have. I love the idea of upcycling clothes and making them into completely new items. I want to make my wardrobe original and make it so it reflects me and how I view myself.

An entrepreneur to me is someone who finds creative original solutions to problems they encounter. I am not sure what my role in it is. I think my current role would be a student. I am learning about entrepreneurship and how it can become a part of my life. So far it is helping me figure out who I am and what I want from myself and the world. I think in the future I will be able to call myself an entrepreneur and feel like one too. I think I have a lot more to learn and do before I feel like I can call myself one. At least for myself personally. I am an entrepreneur in training!

How did this quarter go for you?

I’d say it went pretty well. I learned some new things about entrepreneurship and myself. I met some cool people and pushed myself to do things I didn’t know I could do.

What did you love?

I loved collaborating with people to make something new. I liked getting to know my classmates through VP1 and 2. I enjoyed the connection making in class. Meeting the other entrepreneur alumni was cool too, I appreciated seeing where this class can take you in the end and what you can do as an entrepreneur. I loved hearing coaches, professors, and alumni talk about how you don’t have to focus on or do just one thing for the rest of your life. There are loads of ways to be successful and do the things you love. I liked watching pitches from both ventures. Seeing what everyone was capable of in one quarter was inspiring and amazing to see.

What do you wish would have gone differently?

As an E1 I felt lost and confused just about the entire quarter. I know that everyone says that that is just what entrepreneurship is like but it would have been helpful if the class was explained more at the beginning. I felt like I learned more from Sawyer in VP1 about how the class was organized than I did most of the quarter. She explained and gave examples of all the BIC’s and VPC’s and other recourses, as well as explained how pitch day goes and what to expect. I feel that more explanation of what goes on and how the class is structured and what is expected of students would be incredibly helpful to incoming E1’s. I also wish that we had learned more about how to start a venture, the first steps, how to find and interview important customers, and how to go about creating a prototype, etc. I think I may have been more successful with more check-ins from the teaching team and a better layout of VP2 and the expectations for E1’s. I didn’t know what I needed to do to succeed in class besides looking over the written project details. All in all, what is going to keep me coming back is the community. I’m sure I will learn more as I progress.

How has your definition of an entrepreneur changed since the beginning of the quarter?

I am not entirely sure what my starting definition was. But my definition now is someone who creates innovative original ideas to solve problems. I think I have learned that an entrepreneur is someone who starts and finishes something to the end and learns the whole time doing it. They are someone who perseveres and doesn’t give up easily. They are dedicated hard-working, easy-going, helpful people who want to make the best life possible for themselves.

I am pretty excited for winter, I found a photo of me and this giant snowman I built last year and Whatcom falls in the snow. I don’t really ski or snowboard, but I think I’ll end up going a few times with friends. I am most excited about snow and sledding and building stuff with it if it’s good for packing. I really like late-night walks in winter when it still looks so bright out because of the white snow. (I do miss summer though, that is my season for sure)

Our team set out to create a financial app to help students manage and track their finances. Our app will easily connect to financial institutions such as your university and bank to give students easy access to all of their expenses. Unifin has an easy-to-use interface and will automatically budget your expenses and help you set and reach financial goals while staying on top of school bills and personal finances. Our app utilizes a pie chart graph to see your spending habits. This app helps students manage their finances on their own.

Sophie E1, Nathan E1, Young-Young E1, Harrison E1

Evidence Locker: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NVCTVRzVHXckF6iRtQrhlQBtV1PqnUVK?usp=sharing

Business Report: https://www.canva.com/design/DAExIzjmicI/b3HloYZS-EDmCWk29HKvIA/view?utm_content=DAExIzjmicI&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

What did you see that you loved at pitches this week?

I really enjoyed the E4 presentations. It showed me what they can look like after you’ve put more than a quarter of work into it. I thought they both did a great job and it was really thorough. I think that working on something that you are more passionate about or is more personal to you is easier to do than the E1 vp2. It felt like we didn’t have a lot of guidelines so that was a learning curve in itself. But overall I felt my group did a really good job presenting and I felt we were well prepared and rehearsed. We learned some good things and I am happy with how we did based on our level in the class. Although I would have liked a bit more guidance. Or some pointers earlier on from the teaching team. I felt like I didn’t entirely know what was expected of me. But like I said I think we did well with what we knew and had to go off.

The other E1’s had some really cool ideas that I thought were really innovative and different. It was fun to see the creativity and thought put into it. But it also seemed like they weren’t entirely sure what was expected of them either. I am sure we will learn if we continue with the program.

What went well this quarter?

I really enjoyed working with my vp2 group. We got along really well and meetings were usually easy-going and enjoyable. We worked well together and I think that made things smoother overall. I also enjoyed the community in class a lot. I felt like the students were eager to help us fit in and give us tips when we asked. Everyone was kind, open-minded, and open-hearted it was nice to be a part of. I also enjoyed the networking that we did recently I felt like I learned the most that day in class it was awesome to be able to fire question after question to the coaches and get an elaborate well thought out answer every time.

I also thought that the mix between zoom and in person was pretty nice actually, I liked being able to stay home and be in comfy pants especially if it was rainy. It saved me a wet 20-minute walk home which I was a-okay with.

This week I just rested a lot and slept and ate yummy food. I was excited about it. My body and mind were tired so it was nice to relax before the home stretch of the fall quarter.

I don’t think we have anything left to do except the actual pitch on Monday! We made some changes after dress rehearsal but we have nothing else to do from today (Sunday) to Monday except to practice.

We put in screenshots from the app onto the presentation, as well as swapped out one of our competitors for one that is more similar and has more competitive features. We also made some small adjustments to our scripts, made sentences flow better, added and deleted information. Just small things. I don’t want to give a lot away!

We will have more to do after the pitch than before.

Other than that, we will practice in person Monday morning with our group, and then (if possible) we may try and volunteer to go first. I like going first better, helps get rid of the nervous energy fast. The waiting is honestly the worst part. Presenting itself isn’t all that bad.

Outside of class, I got to spend time with friends I haven’t seen in a while and we had a much-needed girl’s night. I also got to go back to work today! (Covering a shift so the trainers could go watch one of the graduated dogs get handed off to a Veteran at the Seahawks game). I got to see all my pups and the new ones too! All 16 happy slobbery dogs. It was good for the soul. Especially because my apartment is full of cats and I am in no way a cat person. It was nice to be surrounded by wagging tails. I don’t hate cats, they’re just not my forte.

Anyway, I am glad my super busy week is over, for the most part. I am excited about Thanksgiving, mostly to see family, since we didn’t get to see each other last year due to Ms. Rona virus. I think this week will be good. 🙂

 What are you going to do to exceed the standards this quarter?

I am hoping that our prototype that Harrison has been hard at work on will put us over the edge a smidge. I think we can also make our learning journey video cool as well. Maybe make it sort of like a mocumentary? That could be funny and possibly make the video more engaging for us. I also hope that we will all be well prepared and ready to present with little to no flaws. Perhaps even the BIC’s and other maps could be really well thought out and detailed. We can make our evidence locker easy to use and free of clutter and well organized.

Why does it matter to you?

I want to show that I take this class seriously and I want to try hard and put in the effort. I also want my grade to show that I put in the time and effort this quarter to succeed. I want my work to reflect what I have put into it and myself as a student. I am a hard worker and I try hard. I want the things I make and do to represent that.

What jumps out to you in the VP2 rubric?

The evidence locker. It almost seems this is worth more than anything else we will be submitting. which makes sense because it shows everything we did over the quarter. But I would have thought that the final product or service would be graded higher. I suppose it is a good thing it’s not because what if on the off chance the product isn’t ready or doesn’t work out, your grade would go down a lot which would be a bummer. So I understand that the evidence of how hard you worked on the project should be weighted more heavily.

I am a tad nervous… no not nervous. Antsy or eager to get the evidence locker up to par with the rubric. We have a lot to do to organize everything. I am not a huge tech nerd so I will definitely be asking my group to help me with that. They won’t mind though. We’re still a team until it’s over haha.

Where could you use support?

Maybe seeing an example of how the teaching team would like the evidence locker and all the files to be represented? There is a lot to turn in and I am a tad confused on what is supposed to go where and what needs to be included in what files etc.

What did you learn in shift and share- what did you love, what would you have loved to see?

I enjoyed seeing Lecoya (I hope I didn’t butcher that) present all the ways we could make prototypes online and what resources were good for what kinds of prototypes. I loved that they were able to share something they are passionate about with the class’s undived attention. I remember I had a really bad headache that got progressively worse throughout the class so I wasn’t very focused. So I guess I would have loved to have not had a headache! especially because investing is something I am interested in learning more about, but since I was more focused on my headache I didn’t retain a lot. Which is a bummer but that’s how it goes sometimes.

(Also, sorry you have to enter in a weird code and your email to post comments. Idk how to change it so if you do let me know!)

Something nice that happened this week was my roommates and I went on a midnight walk around the neighborhood. I took some neat photos in the dark with a setting I didn’t know my phone had. They aren’t awesome but I think they look kinda funky and cursed honestly. lol. Bonus points if you know where this house is.

What did you love this week?  

This week was kind of stressful for me. I was really irritable all week and I was not a fan. My roommates weren’t either. everything made me angry, frustrated, or irritated. I am certainly not normally like that. But, I am doing much better now. I was able to use the gym as an outlet for most of the week or go on walks with my dog. I was stressed about the venture project too. I feel like my team has more research to do about the logistics of how it will all work. We will figure it out though.

I was able to do a lot of work over the weekend for my group. I don’t mind that they didn’t help, I didn’t ask. I really just wanted to get the BIC done and I decided to just go ahead and do it and explain it later. I also did a few other things just so they got done and we won’t have to worry about them. I’m happy I did that because it relieved some stress I was feeling. I don’t think my group will mind too much.

Some other un-school-related things that I loved were the parts of the day when the sun came out. I think it was Thursday night that I saw some sun shining incredibly bright on the mountains outside my window. I love when the clouds are real dark and the sun lights up the trees against the dark background. Anyway, I decided to drop everything I was doing and chase the sun. I drove over to Larabee elementary school and basked in the setting sun. It was so bright and so lovely. I took some cute photos of myself which I don’t do very often even though I enjoy it.

School wise I was stressed but there were other things I loved this week which helped. 🙂

What resonated with you in workshops?

I don’t know what resonated. I wish we had gotten the work time that was scheduled. I think that would have been more helpful than the coaching and the other thing we did Wednesday. I feel like I would have been more productive and more engaged if instead of presentations we got work time. I’m not really sure what the presentations were for or why we listened to them. I wish the things we did in class went along with ventures or gave us more tips on how to be successful in our ventures. I am not sure how to apply what we did to my venture. Maybe we could do something about how to find important clients to interview, or how to actually start a business and the steps for that, or team-building exercises. I feel like some of what we do isn’t connected to entrepreneurship and more to motivation and self-growth… But the class “innovating You” already does that. I wish there was more of a focus on entrepreneurship and connecting the ventures to the stuff we do in class. Maybe that will happen as I move on in the course but I don’t know right now.

How might you apply this week’s learnings to your venture?

I suppose if I take anything I would take the part about coaching and listening/ checking in with my team more. Make sure everyone is on the same page and that we all know what we are supposed to be doing. Instead of getting wrapped up in my own worries and stresses, I could engage with my group and come up with a better game plan.

What did you love this week?

I really enjoyed the mini-pitches. Working with a small group to make a pitch for something that was already given to us was really fun. I especially liked making little reptiles out of pipe cleaners. I always enjoy working with my venture group as well, I think we are making good progress on our project and it is exciting to see it start to come together.

Another thing I loved this week was Halloween! It was really fun to dress up and be with friends and dance. I missed going to parties like that. Halloween parties might be my favorite kind of party. Or ones with a theme. It makes everyone feel silly and it makes for great/easy conversation starters.

What resonated with you in workshops?

The customer profile was helpful to break down. It was cool to see how you can work backwards from a product. It was also fun to use the jamboard to come up with loads of ideas for other ways a chip clip could be used and what the customer would look like for a simple item. It made me feel like I can come up with a customer profile fairly easily now and have fun with it.

How might you apply this week’s learnings to your venture?

Well, I will use what I learned from the customer profile workshop to create a customer profile. Now I know what I am looking for and how to do so. I will also try to have more fun with this project and not take it so seriously. I mean that as a good thing. I am still going to try hard and make something I can be proud of, but it might help take some of the pressure off.

What did you learn in shift and share- what did you love, what would you have loved to see?

I don’t know what this is. I think there was a problem on the calendar and this is for upper e-levels to answer.

Things are going well! My team and I decided to pivot hardcore on our vp2. I feel better about the current idea we have rather than the previous idea we had. It felt like everyone was doing mental health, and we couldn’t figure out how to make it all work and how it would be different than other mindfulness apps. We are moving on to a finance app specifically for students. We got a lot done at our last meeting and now we need to conduct interviews and redo the vpc and the bic. I am not too worried. We have a lot more to do but I think it is doable. I am anxious to see what we can do and how we will do it. But, like I said I feel better about this idea. It won’t be a lot easier but it feels more secure.

We need more interviews, or at least I want more interviews. People who aren’t my roommates for the 4th time. New faces new ideas. I will reach out to people on Monday. I have a few things I have to do on Sunday.

I want to go thrifting soon. The Goodwill bins in Everett to be exact. You can purchase clothes by the pound. The things you can find are amazing. I have found brand-name jeans in great condition and loads of other one-of-a-kind pieces I haven’t seen anywhere else. It is a pretty fun weekend activity.

My last day of work is the 31st. I am excited to have more free time for school and myself. I found my Halloween costume too. I am hoping someone can switch shifts with me so I don’t have to work on Sunday in the morning. Going to a party Saturday night and not worrying about getting up at 6 am would be nice. But it is my last day so it really won’t be that bad. Just not ideal, which is fine. But I am gonna ask anyway.

I hope everyone has/had a good weekend, and the power doesn’t go out!

How have you deepened your understanding of business research, empathy, and alignment?

My group and I are just starting to finalize our idea for our project. I don’t know a whole lot about business research but I think I am getting it so far. We are reaching out to some local meditation groups and interviewing them for our VP2. It’s exciting to talk to people I wouldn’t normally even think of talking to. I mean they are cool people of course, but they are super out of my regular circle so it’s interesting to learn from new folks!

I like to think of myself as a very empathetic person. Last Monday when we were assigned to walk around campus and interview students, I found myself matching their energy and providing as much empathy for whatever they were describing. Whether it was eating a good lunch or feeling anxious about finishing an assignment, I felt right there with them. This class is exciting because I can see the changes happening in myself already. Stepping out of my comfort zone by interviewing strangers and being forced to get to know them is something I didn’t think I would enjoy as much as I do.

As for alignment, I don’t know if that means something different in this class or not, but I feel like I am on the right track for developing VP2. My group is fun to work with and I am always excited to meet and talk about the next steps. We get along well too, I wasn’t expecting any less but ya know its still a nice thing. We have a lot more work to do and I expect things to start picking up really fast. It will be challenging but I am looking forward to it.

How does IdeaGrit and Major Definite Purpose resonate with you right now?

There’s a lot of words or phrases in this class it’s hard to keep track of ’em all lol. If I am being completely honest I’m not sure it does resonate simply because I don’t know what this means. But I will take a shot at it. I guess IdeaGrit makes me think positively and doesn’t leave any room for feeling bad about “failed” ideas/projects. Things are rarely the end of the world and you must have the grit to get through the hard things. If Major Definite Purpose means what I think it means, then I don’t think I have found mine yet. I don’t think I will find my purpose for a while if ever and that is okay with me. I will try new things anyway and see what sticks. I don’t know if I want one purpose. But if this is in terms of our VP2’s then I think we are on a good track and very close to figuring out our major purpose/narrowing it down.

How might you apply this week’s learnings to your venture?

This week was a little tough for me. My anxiety flared up a lot throughout the week and it made it difficult to focus on things outside of my own headspace. Anxiety is something I am not scared to talk about at all because it is and always will be a large factor in my life. I don’t hate it but of course, it’s annoying. Like this week I had a swollen lymph node and I immediately thought of cancer. Was it cancer? No. Silly brain. I think I learned a lot this week from myself. I learned that not everything is life-threatening so therefore I need to be able to learn to separate myself from the anxiety. It is a part of me but it is not me.

As for what I learned in class, I learned how to conduct better interviews and JTBD statements. This will come in handy when my group and I interview people who aren’t students. I am ready to jump back in after my anxious weekend. Time for a good distraction. 🙂

Also, here is a picture of Stout. One of the best service pups I ever did see. Katy (woman next to Stout) and I did a photoshoot with this fluffy boy because he is gonna represent Brigadoon at an event I believe. Plus we had to show off the new puppy room! I will be sad to leave, so good thing I have lots of photos stocked up.