Noodles, iPad applications, and tutoring.
The title of this post might seem a little strange. Correction, the title of this post is a little strange. But what do noodles, iPad applications, and tutoring have in common? Well, they’re all areas in which the last three guest speakers for one of my classes have been entrepreneurial.
This semester, I’m taking Managerial Studies 194: Survey of Entrepreneurship for my Leadership and Organization minor. Every week, the class is split into two parts–a lecture-meets-discussion where our teacher teaches to a smaller group for about an hour and a half and then an hour-long session where several classes converge and we listen to a guest speaker.
Over the past 3 weeks, we’ve had some awesome guest speakers–our first was Jamie O’Rourke, a self-described “serial entrepreneur” who helped make the pool noodle mainstream and get it in stores like Wal-Mart. Then we had Randy Farr, who’s currently pioneering an application that allows consumers to have more control and be more knowledgeable about their medical records. Finally, this week we heard from Christie Andrews, who runs a local non-profit called “Learning Matters”.
All of these guest speakers have provided really fascinating real-world examples and situations of the concepts we learn in class. There’s always time to ask questions and I’ve been able to get a really practical look at what entrepreneurship can look like–which makes the class even more interesting and helpful as I look towards the future.