Lesson 2 - Chose a Business

This week one of our assignments was to comment on other students top 5 ideas for the $100 challenge.  I was really hoping for more diversity in the ideas that were presented. It seemed like most of the ideas were things youth would come up with instead of professional adults. Admittedly most of my ideas were very similar to those that were mentioned.

I did talk with my husband this week about the possibility of "setting up shop" and cutting hair once a week at his office. He said that he would propose the idea to Kevin and then let me know what his reaction is. Based on his response I will then either present the idea or change direction

For my "dream job" project I have been making a list of all the corporate companies located in Twin Falls. Over the next couple of weeks I will be emailing them to find out about internship and mentoring opportunities. I will be doing my internship in the fall, my next to last semester before graduation.

I liked working through the HHM on creativity. Although we were supposed to do just the 20 minute path, I ended up working through the whole thing because I just kept selecting "next". The information in this session was very useful and can be used for entrepreneurs or intrepreneurs. Both require an ability to look outside the box to solve problems and find inspiration. We saw examples of this in the "Boston Duck Tours" assignment.

My biggest frustration this week was that I posted my Boston Duck questions late. Yet when I posted there were only 3 others who had posted. As of Saturday at 5:30 only 6 of us have posted and I have not been able to complete this assignment yet.  I think the due date is difficult to find as it is listed as Activity 6 - maybe if it were listed higher it would be noticed more easily or have 2 separate assignments, 1 for the initial post and then a "check when complete" for the discussion board responses. This is the first semester that I have had issues with how assignments are listed and posted on the "due in 2 weeks" calendar. Surprisingly this is an issue in 3 out of 4 classes.

Lesson 1 - Entrepreneurial Resources

This week I brainstormed ideas for my $100 challenge and Big Idea. This was difficult because I don't really want to being a business, instead I would prefer to work in a corporate setting such as commercial lending. One of the other challenges of this assignment were the implications that can be associated with this project. Many of the ideas that people will have will require insurance, permitting, licensing, and subject to taxation. It concerns me that this doesn't seem to be discussed in this assignment. I wonder if any students have filed taxes on the proceeds from their start-ups.  If not, why not?  Has BYU-I considered that this might be a topic that should be covered?

I'm still not quite sure what I want to do for the $100 challenge but I have received approval to use Grameen-American as my donation recipient. I hope in the future B-283 offers other options besides KIVA for this project. I feel that KIVA's lending practices are questionable. Having read several law reviews about micro-lending that specifically discuss KIVA I couldn't support them and still feel like I was being true to my values.

I had the opportunity to use the Bruce Thompson story to help one of the students I volunteer with. The student really struggles with self-confidence and a desire to put forth effort. I think he was really surprised that I could pull the story out from thin air.  Good thing I have watched many of these Acton Hero stories more than once. It is one of the repetitive parts of the Entrepreneurship Emphasis for my major. I wish it wasn't so repetitive but hopefully I can gain new insight with the repetition.

Bruce Thompson - Hyperion Energy

After watching the Acton Hero Guide for Bruce Thompson I am reminded that perseverance is necessary in all parts of our live.  Being diagnosed with an debilitating disease could have stopped Mr. Thompson in his tracks, instead he prioritized his live and kept on living. We will face trials everyday that can cause us to pause it is up to us whether we will allow those pauses to stop us or cause us to re-evaluate our course and move on. I think this lesson applies to our personal and spiritual life just as much as our professional life. I have seen many people who are content in their position and no longer seek to improve and grow. They have allowed a pause in their life to stop them. I have seen others who even when the odds are against them continue to fight every day to live every moment. For me this I struggle with this lesson daily, especially when I begin working on my weekly homework assignments. My major is not anything that I am really interested in. I have no desire to be an entrepreneur. I have to look out of the box at almost every assignment and see how I can use the ideas to improve myself within the scope that I want to really study.

Out with the Old and in with the New

Last semester is in the past. Not sure if I should be happy or sad. We survived our Christmas vacation and even had a few surprised along the way.
Today we are all back to the grind. Kids are at school, John is a work, and I am at my laptop taking syllabus quizzes and starting on assignments. I find myself wondering if I will make it through a semester filled with LOTS of reading and assignments. Almost makes me want to take Acct 202 again just for a break....Yeah, don't think so.