My Final Essay | ENTR 301
Throughout the semester, ENTR 301 has nudged me out of my comfort zone and into a creative space. While I’ve learned many ways to develop and act upon entrepreneurial ideas, a tangible skill I have learned for this class is video editing. Through my LEAP project, I wanted to communicate my ideas in this format, but had very little prior experience with it. It started in Windows 10 on a campus computer. As bare-bones as the Photos app on Windows 10 is, it got me started on developing and editing the raw video and audio I had. At first, all I had was video taken from a wilderness trip, and audio recorded on my iPhone. Throughout the weeks I was bringing my flash-drive with the maximum 16 GB of video into the lab, editing the clips I brought, and transferring them back to my laptop at home (my trusty Lenovo can’t process HD quality footage). Fast forward through many software changes and mistakes, to an end product that I’m proud of as a first time video. While I most definitely am not an expert at video editing, at the very least I have a foundation to build on. I do not plan on making a career out of this skill, but I believe any experience in media creation will become more valuable in an increasingly virtual world. For this reason I will continue to work on leaning new software and techniques in video editing. Not only do I believe it’s a valuable skill, I truly enjoy the process of creating and communicating through this format.
The aforementioned LEAP project I worked on this semester is centered around the Boundary Waters in northeast MN. I have a passion for the wilderness area, and the local communities surrounding it. I want to use my degree to work and live in this area. The goal would be to work with, or for, one of the local businesses, or potentially create my own venture. I believe the experience I have in the community, and the skills I’ve learned in school have prepared me for such a role. So how would I make this a reality? In ENTR we worked on our individual branding, or “portfolio.” I created my own website, worked on my social media presence (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, etc.) and learned many ways to promote myself. I will start by creating my online portfolio, which includes my professional goals and qualifications. I can use social media to build a network of similar individuals in the community. In addition, if I decide to start my own venture, I can use the information we learned on start-up financing and legal considerations. I learned how to create targeted social media ads, which could be helpful in marketing a local business. It has been a goal of mine to use my degree to positively impact people, and I’m excited at the prospect of working in a community and place I love. With time and commitment, I can make this goal a reality.
