What did you do for your practicum? Please include a detailed description.
I am taking ENES140. It is titled “Discovering New Ventures,” and in the class we learn about entrepreneurial strategy and how the ins and outs of what to consider when developing a new business.
​
What did you learn from your practicum?
I’d say that the most important thing the class has taught me about is the mindset that you have to be in when thinking like an entrepreneur. Because starting up a new business is so complicated and there are so many different aspects of your marketplace to consider, it helps to split each aspect into parts to make sure you fully understand how to work with that aspect of your business’s setting. In ENES140 we do exactly that. The class prepares us for each aspect and teaches us how exactly we should be utilizing it and adapting to it in order to best benefit our new businesses.
How have you grown as a leader, student, and professional? Upload at least 1 artifact as evidence of that growth and discuss WHY you chose it. Describing WHY you uploaded something is more important than the item itself.
This essay here is actually one of two that I wrote for my application to the Innovation and Entrepreneurship minor here at UMD. In it I talk about how the combination of my study of computer science and business will allow me to accomplish what I want in both fields. I felt like writing that and again, having it all physically written down on paper was very eye opening. It allowed me to physically see my plan for moving forward.
How can you apply your practicum experience to your life/career moving forward?
In the future, I have thought about possibly creating my own business involving game development. My Dad actually founded a tech startup in which he used similar skills as those I am developing right now in school. My practicum was a great place to start before getting into my minor in order to go into it with some solid foundational ideas.
What are your plans for:
The rest of your time at UMD?
Post-graduation and your prospective career/field of interest?
I am continuing to study computer science for the next two years here at UMD. Next semester is when I actually start my minor classes which I am looking forward to. This summer, though, I am going to learn Unity, which is a game engine. I am going to try and create my own game, (or games), and continue building my portfolio so that next winter and summer I can land an internship in the field that I want to go into. After graduation, I hope to be working in the DMV area in game development, and eventually, start my own business after getting a solid amount of experience in the field first.