30A - Final Reflection

Christina Thompson
Chairman of Rec Sports Board of Directors and Cycle Instructor

What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

I really enjoyed the blog post about one's "secret sauce." I was informative to understand myself and how I contribute to society. It made me feel good hearing and knowing my friends thoughts on me and my work ethic. I am proud of creating a venture concept which I could potentially open up one day. I believe this concept to be legit and I am extremely passionate about it. I understand all the factors which will go into creating, opening, and operating this service. If I do not open a cycling studio which infuses mindfulness and breathing techniques into the rides, I hope someone else sees the need for this and creates an impactful community which can help college students elevate their stress. All I can do now, I be an effective and intentional cycle instructor for my participants at UF's Rec Sports; as well as, listening to the needs of my peers and representing them as the Chairman of Rec Sports Board of Directions.

At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

I 100% see myself as an entrepreneur. The concepts of business and their processes really intrigues me. Currently, I am pursuing accounting because one day I either want to create my own business or be in the C-Suite of a company. Actually, this past thanksgiving break my parents were reflecting on my work ethic since I was a little girl and said they see me accomplishing these things. I have always have had an entrepreneurial mindset. When I was little I created my own business cards for babysitting services and placing them at the salon my mom goes to, made a dog walking company, and even now developed a fitness and health Instagram (@ms_fit_foodie). This class has allowed me to see the logistics and hard work that comes with becoming an entrepreneur.

What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

To be in this class, students need to be disciplined and effective with their time management skills. With this, students need to plan ahead and set goals when working on blog posts. By writing down and looking at what one needs to do in this class, allows for a clear focus on deadlines and accountability. In addition, I recommend them to invest into their peers blog posts and to provide constructive feedback. Throughout the semester, I believe I have fostered relations with the various students in my blog posts who have continuously provided constructive feedback for my Venture Concept. In addition, I provided more insightful comments to those who did the same for me. This feedback can help you alter your strategies by showing you their beliefs and one can learn a lot from others' perspectives. Also to foster an entrepreneur mindset, students need to believe in their product and service. They need to be passionate about their opportunity and to believe it can actually succeed. If they develop a concept they are not enthused about, their blog posts and work will become mundane.