Week 4 Reading Reflection

1) What was really different from my expectations was the information on how to do creative exercises in order to change how we use our brains. This idea of training our brain to remove so called “muddling mind sets” and instead practice with certain thought exercises to think differently was something I didn’t know was possible.  

2) What was confusing to me was the information on the terrorism ignites innovation story in the book page 169. I was a bit concerned on how terrorism can really lead to that type of innovative change. When I think innovation I think in a positive mind set, yet terrorism has a negative connotation to it so it was strange for me to think that one could affect the other.

3) I would first ask how do people find out what kind of entrepreneur they are if they fall into those said categories in the chapter. Secondly, is there a way to form a perfect creative climate for people? I ask these things because they relate to the individual affected by all of this, and possibly back to me.

4) I do not really think the author was wrong about anything, and I am just learning this information so I can’t really say. I would argue I suppose that people could fit into more than one category for arenas of creativity, and that perhaps there are a great deal of different environments people grow up to make them more or less creative than others. 

Top 5 World Problems

Top Five Problems:

1.     Equality- When I say equality, I use it the most general terms possible. Gender equality, racial equality, age and everything above, all people deserve equal representation and equal human rights. Many times this is not seen when it comes to couples wanting to get married, or women having the same chances as men in the work place, and people of different backgrounds having a fair playing ground as anyone else.

2.     Poverty- there is still an immense problem with poverty in our world. There are families in South America, the Caribbean, Africa, China and even here in the United States that do not have enough funds or resources to take care of their families. Besides not being able to feed families, there are also poor housing situations that leave people living in terrible conditions.

3.     Education- This is a major problem in my opinion for our world. Education is where the distribution of knowledge begins, where inspiration and enlightenment brighten the minds of children and adults alike. With-out education, there would be no formal structure in our governments or school systems for that matter as we have today.

4.     Health Care- The health care situation has a lot to do with the poverty situation which I explained about earlier. Across the globe, proper medical care for individuals is at many times nonexistent or at least very miniscule compared to that which exist in wealthier countries. For example, medical attention for pregnant women is hardly a thing in third world poverty stricken nations, and care for the elderly and sick is also not a funded group as it is here in the states.

5.     Trash – there is a large accumulation of trash building up in the world’s oceans and landfills. It appears as though people are not reusing and recycling materials as much as society should be. The amount of trash that people produce is plaguing the well-being of earth’s animals and the health of its people, along with the possibility of running out of resources.

My Justification:

So I believe this list ranking appropriately places what I believe are our world’s biggest problems into a logical frame of thinking. I took into account the broader more social issues at hand and ranked them up top, and then placed the more system based issues towards the bottom of the list. I thought the number one issue is equality because everything following after it falls under that category of necessary equality in order to be addressed. It acts like an umbrella problem so to speak, entailing a multitude of other issues underneath its one general issue.   

Top Five Solutions:

A solution for this I believe begins in the household, teaching children how to respect and take care of the earth. More sustainable programs for collecting trash should be implemented, and society should actually put more effort into such programs by following them and improving them.   

Solutions for this major issue already are in place in many places such as the United States, many parts of Europe and Latin American countries; however, there is a huge amount left of the world which has no access to proper medical care. A way to solve this would be for the leadership in those nations to implement a health program for their citizens, providing doctors, medicine, and necessary treatment to patients.    

A possible solution to this problem may be to have proper allocation of resources to other countries in need. It is clear that wealthier countries are able to grab hold of more supplies and better sources of nutrients due to the larger amounts of income that the nation has, many times taking more than necessary and not leaving enough to go around. Therefore, there should be equal opportunity for the distribution of wealth, food, and energy for all nations.

The provision and further development of education to those around the world truly depends on the leaders who make up these policies. They should form international standards which would need to be meet by all nations. These standards would include things like proper schooling facilities, supplies, teachers, and a means for children and young adults to attend higher levels of education free of charge or at least a very low cost of attendance.

Truly this calls for more of a social solution than anything else. A means of teaching the public about equal representation for all individuals must first begin with the way we raise our children. This is something that would have to begin from the parents and leaders of this world, passing down the knowledge and means of how to respect one another to today’s youth so that that generation could then further improve themselves and those to come after them.

My Justification:

I placed the solutions almost in the exact opposite order from my biggest problems list. This ended up occurring do to the fact that the biggest problems have the most difficult solutions to try and put into place. Therefore, the most implementable solution I could think of was the one with teaching others about the proper means of throwing away trash. Already there are such education programs out there, as well as recycling, compost, and waste programs that are in use in some places. Hence because there is already a large foundation on the topic, the solution is very much possible. 

Identifying Local Opportunities

1.     Alachua County Commission votes to move toward civil citation for pot

·       The link to the article: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20160119/ARTICLES/160119626/1150/news01?Title=Alachua-County-Commission-votes-to-move-toward-civil-citation-for-pot

·       The article is talking about the issue with marijuana possession, which is a first-degree misdemeanor, and how law enforcement should punish those who are found with it.    

·       The problem is that many people believe that being found in possession of 20 grams of marijuana or less should not be as severely punished as it is now. Currently, the punishment is up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine followed by the account being placed on your permanent record. So the argument is whether by not having people be punished as harshly, would solve the issue of marijuana possession or not.

·       The who in this scenario are the citizens who break the law and are caught with marijuana, yet it is also law enforcement who must carry the arrest through. It’s law enforcement who has to carry the weight when it comes to the decisions on arresting the person for possession of marijuana, for how long they will be either placed in jail or fined or given no punishment at all.

2.     Naples candidates for mayor, council take sides in debate over commercial flights at Naples airport

·       http://www.naplesnews.com/news/government/naples-candidates-for-mayor-council-take-sides-in-debate-over-commercial-flights-at-naples-airport-2-366268421.html

·       The story is about the city of Naples having the Naples Municipal Airport sign a deal to allow for commercial flights to come out of the airport; something that has not been done for eight years. Of course there are issues raised with this, complaints by the citizens of Naples and by the city have caused for a disagreement amongst the idea of allowing for larger and more flights to come out of the small airport. However the point is raised that such types of flights are in demand and would allow for growth with the airport.

·       The main problem is that the airport is small and centered in the middle of the city of Naples. Due to the location, there are complaints of possible increase in flight noise. However, there is argument for the other side that the new types of planes do not make as much noise as older planes did, and that by having these types of larger commercial flights will increase local business.

·       In this case the who of the problem can be the people who live in the area surrounding the airport, as well as the Naples Council members who agree and/or disagree with the allowing of commercial flights. Essentially every party has the problem, but the residents of the area may have it more so than others based of their nearness to the airport.

3.     SWFL environmental advocates unhappy with new water bill

·       http://www.naplesnews.com/news/environment/swfl-environmental-advocates-unhappy-with-new-water-bill-29e09d37-583b-7c84-e053-0100007f9981-366131021.html

·       The story is talking about the new water bill which Florida governor Rick Scott just recently signed. Southwest Florida environmental advocates are speaking out and against the new water bill because it is viewed as inadequate for what the state really needs. Much more of the article describes the politics involved with the decision, and how industry and business played a large role in the creation of the new water bill.

·       The issue at hand is that the water bill does not protect all water ways as environmentalists had wanted. It manages to protect certain springs and head waters, but then removes protection from other water ways. Also the pollution factor of the bill does not layout an adequate plan for the cleaning up of polluted water. Furthermore, the bill is seen as allowing more water for cities and farms but not towards natural waterways.

·       This problem is effecting both the population of the state of Florida as well as the state government which has allowed for this bill to pass. The entire population of the state will be effecting by polluted water ways, and not enough drinking water. Rick Scott is trying to be seen as a governor who wants to get things done and get on the good side of the state government; however, he is also being seen as inconsiderate by the environmentalists who asked for an improved bill in the first place.

4.       39 pythons caught so far in Florida snake hunt

·       http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ap-pythons-everglades-20160122-story.html

·       The article is describing how the Burmese Python, an invasive species to the state of Florida, has overrun the Everglades with its population size. So as a solution, the Florida Everglade’s has allowed for a python hunt to occur every year in order to reduce the size of the python population. This is its second year in effect.

·       The Burmese Python is invasive species; hence it has caused serious problems to the sensitive ecosystem in which the Everglades is. The first python hunt had 68 captured pythons, yet with such numbers, the situation of too many pythons still existed, so the second hunt is supposed to help lower the population yet again. Since the python has no threat here in the Everglades it has been able to thrive and take over areas and food webs that once belonged to the native species of the area.

·       The group mostly effected by these animals are the native species of the Everglades. They have no way of protecting themselves from these massive snakes which have become highly adapted to their new home in Florida. The native species are decreasing in numbers, and people are getting in closer contact with these fourteen-foot-long snakes that end up eating pets and possibly putting small children at risk.

5.     Florida Legislature pondering move to school districts by city

·       http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article56148045.html

·       The article is a very political one in regards to the state of Florida legislature being interested in changing on how public education is locally run to instead be citywide school districts. It is described that that if citywide school districts were allowed, then the wealthier areas can afford and provide better educational opportunities compared to smaller and more impoverished areas of the city. The concern is raised that the allocation of resources would then not be equal, compared to how they are now with countywide school districts. However, the argument is that citywide school districts would be cheaper.

·       Like stated above, the main concern is to maintain equality in education for students no matter their economic and/or social status. Of course the idea of citywide school districts would allow for the higher tax income areas to provide more and better educational opportunities for its schools compared to those in poorer areas. However, there is questioning from the school board on whether or not it is really necessary to need to completely change the way public education is being allocated within the state, and if it were changed, would it positively affect student test scores and performance in school.

·       This problem at hand will be effecting the children of the state of Florida, and their educational opportunities. The students who rely on public education have no say or power to vote in the matter, and it is possible that many may be negatively affected by citywide school districts instead of countywide. Furthermore, if the Florida legislature passes this, then what will become of other states and their ideas for public education? In the end this could influence the entire country on its stance with education.      

Week 3 Reading Reflection

1.     What really stood out to me was the mentioning of how the high levels of stress brought on by the many risks entrepreneur’s take every day can negatively affect the health of entrepreneurs. It was astonishing to find out that there are many different kinds of risks that entrepreneurs are taking besides the ones for their businesses. They are risking their family and social lives, as well as psychologically putting themselves through so much stress.

2.       The whole part about ethical responsibility and that chart on page 54 was rather confusing. The chart used some terminology that was not defined or spoken of in the text, also the chart did not explain a scenario so to speak for using the chart. It was just rather vague to fully grasp the idea of ethical challenges that corporate entrepreneur’s face. Furthermore, the ethical considerations of corporate entrepreneurs mentioned how there should be a more complete training program in order to better approach organizations and its members so that the prevention of any ethical crisis may be attained. That section was vague and could use some further explanation.  

3.       I would ask the author what they mean when they mentioned entrepreneurial fear. Have they ever had it or know more about it? Could they attest to a personal experience, and possible how they got over that fear? Are there other ways to deal with the stress of it all? I want to ask these questions to the author because they were not answered in the reading, and I am rather curious to know more about this “fear” that apparently gets every entrepreneur.  

4.       I didn’t really disagree with anything said by the author’s. Instead I very much agreed with them. There are issues at hand when it comes to entrepreneurs being workaholics and not paying enough attention to their health or families. In this case there is indeed a psychological problem at hand that needs to be recognized and dealt with, but I suppose the approach spoken about in the reading could be improved. I feel as though the author could have expanded more on ways to deal with the stress that entrepreneurs face. Their so called solutions did not seem very specific or acted as a long term solution. 

Very Short Interview No. 1

Interviewee: The person I interviewed is Mr. Arturo Martinez, an accountant in Miami, Florida. He attended the University of Florida and received his MBA in Business Accounting. My family and I have known him for many years, and he actually is the accountant for my mother’s dental office. He has been practicing accounting for nearly twenty years, and has owned his own accounting firm for over ten years. Therefore, I believe Mr. Martinez is a business owner, yet he is constantly implementing new technology to his business, and having innovative new ideas to help his clients. So in part he is also an entrepreneur.

1.    What does it mean to be an entrepreneur compared to a business owner?

A.    “What does it mean? Well that’s a kind of hard to describe, I barely know how to define what an entrepreneur is. I guess to me being a business owner is more of a professional, and an entrepreneur is a person that makes something out of nothing. Companies like Microsoft, people like Bill Gates, represent bold and crazy risk takers. I see myself as a professional, and I think of others as business men who may have no education, but were able to make something out of nothing. Entrepreneurs are constantly evolving.”

2.    What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur? 

A.    “I wish I didn’t have to take all of those required classes that had nothing to do with what I wanted to do in my career. I felt like I wasted time by taking things like Spanish history. I wish I had taken more things on typing, and learned how to be more efficient with my time. One of the things I regret I suppose is that I was very interested in how to do taxes while I was in the business college at UF, but I had a terrible professor. He was arrogant and made the accounting classes unenjoyable, so much so that I changed the career path I was interested in because of him. All because of one individual I didn’t stick with my plans, and in the end that made it so much more difficult for me when I started doing accounting years later. I basically had to teach myself everything, and figure out things on my own.”

3.    What new technology and programs helped you as an entrepreneur?

A.    “I am truly blessed by how much new technology there is. I like to use technology because it helps me do my job better and faster. It takes about eight or nine people to do the job that I do by myself, but it’s because of the technology I have available to me that I can have a one-man business. To me it’s all about integration and simplifying the work down as much as possible. For example, I have scanners that hook up to my computer and from my computer I have programs that uploads all the bills and taxes that I may be doing for a client automatically into one place. The programs I have keep me up to date with the times, and even though they may be expensive to purchase, I would rather spend my money on the technology rather than spending more time and money having employees do it for me, or have me do more work on my own than what is necessary- that’s just my philosophy. Recently I have been working on a new client portal program that I made which allows for clients to simply log into the portal at their own time and see all their taxes, all their W2 forms, everything that they have ever filed in one secure place. I’ve spent about 20 hours a week working on this new program, and it’s all for the reason that more and more clients want the new technology, they want the ability to control and see what is going on.”     

Reflection: I found it very intriguing on what Mr. Martinez said about wishing he didn’t waste time taking unnecessary classes in college. He mentioned how it’s understandable that some people need those classes so that they can really discover what they want to do in life, but he also mentioned that the people who know what they want to do should be allowed to just dive in and complete their goals instead of going off doing classes that are not relevant to them. I also really appreciated how time and effort he puts into learning about new technology. For being an older guy, he really has bought into the idea on how much using technology can help him as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, and how it helps his clients.  

World's Biggest Problems

1.     Poverty- there is still an immense problem with poverty in our world. There are families in South America, the Caribbean, Africa, China and even here in the United States that do not have enough funds or resources to take care of their families. Besides not being able to feed families, there are also poor housing situations that leave people living in terrible conditions.

A possible solution to this problem may be to have proper allocation of resources to other countries in need. It is clear that wealthier countries are able to grab hold of more supplies and better sources of nutrients due to the larger amounts of income that the nation has, many times taking more than necessary and not leaving enough to go around. Therefore, there should be equal opportunity for the distribution of wealth, food, and energy for all nations.

2.     Trash – there is a large accumulation of trash building up in the world’s oceans and landfills. It appears as though people are not reusing and recycling materials as much as society should be. The amount of trash that people produce is plaguing the well-being of earth’s animals and the health of its people, along with the possibility of running out of resources.

A solution for this I believe begins in the household, teaching children how to respect and take care of the earth. More sustainable programs for collecting trash should be implemented, and society should actually put more effort into such programs by following them and improving them.   

3.     Health Care- The health care situation has a lot to do with the poverty situation which I explained about earlier. Across the globe, proper medical care for individuals is at many times nonexistent or at least very miniscule compared to that which exist in wealthier countries. For example, medical attention for pregnant women is hardly a thing in third world poverty stricken nations, and care for the elderly and sick is also not a funded group as it is here in the states.

Solutions for this major issue already are in place in many places such as the United States, many parts of Europe and Latin American countries; however, there is a huge amount left of the world which has no access to proper medical care. A way to solve this would be for the leadership in those nations to implement a health program for their citizens, providing doctors, medicine, and necessary treatment to patients.    

4.      Equality- When I say equality, I use it the most general terms possible. Gender equality, racial equality, age and everything above, all people deserve equal representation and equal human rights. Many times this is not seen when it comes to couples wanting to get married, or women having the same chances as men in the work place, and people of different backgrounds having a fair playing ground as anyone else.

Truly this calls for more of a social solution than anything else. A means of teaching the public about equal representation for all individuals must first begin with the way we raise our children. This is something that would have to begin from the parents and leaders of this world, passing down the knowledge and means of how to respect one another to today’s youth so that that generation could then further improve themselves and those to come after them.

5.     Education- This is a major problem in my opinion for our world. Education is where the distribution of knowledge begins, where inspiration and enlightenment brighten the minds of children and adults alike. With-out education, there would be no formal structure in our governments or school systems for that matter as we have today.

The provision and further development of education to those around the world truly depends on the leaders who make up these policies. They should form international standards which would need to be meet by all nations. These standards would include things like proper schooling facilities, supplies, teachers, and a means for children and young adults to attend higher levels of education free of charge or at least a very low cost of attendance.  

6.     Food production- Feeding over seven billion mouths is one daunting task, and it is only getting harder every day. The agricultural industry plays an extremely important role in the global economy, but even more so in the well-being of earth’s people. Furthermore, the production of food leads many times to unsustainable practices, deforestation, and eventual negative impacts upon the land.

More sustainable agricultural practices need to come into effect. Such things like no-till agriculture, sustainably reusing crop land, not having too many pesticides, and finding new and innovative ways of growing a variety of foods in smaller spaces using less water are things that can be forced into by laws made by politicians. Even more so, getting the opinion of farmers and researchers would also help in solving the solution for greener food production.    

7.     Cultural Unawareness- What I mean by this is the fact that many individuals in society are culturally unaware of the world around them. There are so many different religions and cultural backgrounds that when people don’t understand them, they take it as a dangerous thing and therefore cause argument and hatred for them.

Once again this problem has a solution that highly involves education to be taught by society and by home life. Exposure to different cultures and religious practices will expand the minds of individuals, and further understanding amongst the world’s people.

8.     Social Disrespect – This comes into play with equality and cultural awareness. Once again when people do not understand something, then they take that as intimidating and that creates a sense of insecurity. Many times when people disagree upon gay marriage or immigrants entering the country, they form a sense of disrespect for such people, causing for social turmoil.

This is very much a solution that is dependent upon world organizations such as the United Nations to create global standards and goals for all nations to follow. One such example would be to implement an international standard upon basic human rights and peace for all people. Cooperation and communication is what is needed to make this solution possible.

9.     Energy Consumption- This is a major problem out world is having, and has been having for decades. We as a society consume incredible amounts of energy during manufacturing, living are daily lives, filling up our cars with gas, using technology, essentially everything.

Already there is a great source of solutions just waiting to be put into use. Our main source of answers will come from the innovators and creators and problem solvers of our world, people who are constantly looking for new ways to look at things. Once again politicians and world leaders have the power to provide such individuals with research opportunities and funds, followed by educating the public about the issues at hand. This way everyone can get on the same page and actually start changing their life styles for the better of the planet.   

10.    International Relations- It is essential that nations work together to solve the world’s problems. This is nearly impossible however if countries are constantly back stabbing each other, threatening one another with bombs and declarations of war.

Solutions are up to the people who select their leaders into power. It is up to society to see and try to understand not just their town or state or country, but other nations as well and their situations. From there an educated citizen can vote for proper leadership, which can then assist in implementing action for cooperation and communication among other nations.  

Week 2 Reading Reflection

1) What really stood out to me in this reading was the distinction between entrepreneurs and small-business owners. In my opinion, I thought they were always one in the same; however according to the text small businesses do not generally engage in innovative practices compared to entrepreneurial ventures which have the sole objective of innovation. Apparently the perspectives of small business owners and entrepreneurs differ in the sense of the development and growth of their firms. I figured they were generally one in the same because my parents started their own small business, so I also figured they were entrepreneurs for doing so, but now I see that their business is just one dental office and not some large rapid growing dental chain that is creating new ways of dental care.

2) One confusing aspect of the reading was the explanation on the two different process approach models that exist for examining the activities involved in entrepreneurship. Both processes are based of theories from researcher’s different models and ideas, so the processes themselves are not full fact but rather a trusted system the book is explaining to the reader. I see that for the integrative approach there are a lot more inputs and outcomes compared to the simpler dynamic states approach that instead is using the logic of the managers which leads to business success. I just would like to understand the two models in a real life situation, that way I could see the differences more clearly.  

3) I would first ask the author why did they only include the entrepreneurial thought process of Americans and no examples of a foreigners thought process? I would like to know how the entrepreneurial process works in other countries, and perhaps they could be used here in the States. My second question would be why the author used strictly entrepreneurial ventures that have been done in the United States and not examples that have been used globally. I would like to further understand the global standpoint on how impactfull entrepreneurship really is.  

4) I believe myself not to be fully qualified enough to say if the author was wrong about anything, but I can say I had a different perspective on some things. For instance, when the author was discussing the seventh myth that all entrepreneurs need is luck, they used the quote, “luck happens when preparation meets opportunity”. I agree with it, but I could argue that simply being prepared to deal with situations that have not occurred yet or have even been innovated yet seems rather difficult and unrealistic. One may be as prepared as possible when it comes to knowledge that is happening right now, but there is no way for someone to be prepared for any situation in the future; so sometimes you really do need luck.  

Bug List

My Bug List: 

1.       The Springs Residential Wi-Fi connection at the University of Florida.

a.       My laptop is having difficulty connecting to the Wi-Fi because of the flash plugin issue, but it connects perfectly well on campus Wi-Fi so I am not so sure.

2.       Messy roommates who continually move your floor carpet closer to their side and proceed to leave all their things on it.

a.       My roommate is a disorganized person, so she leaves all her stuff around. The carpet moves because it slides around the already carpeted floor each time someone walks on it; hence it migrates to my roommate’s side.

3.       Friends who always manage to text me while I am doing an assignment, so I get distracted.

a.       I am known to always answer my phone, I leave my phone on my desk so I see any messages, and I just have more fun texting then doing work.

4.       Students who fall asleep in my extreme weather class.

a.       I do not know why that happens, I assume they are tired, stayed up late, or just need some caffeine, but I am feeling the same thing! Yet I’m not sleeping in class.

5.       When my suite mates leave the used up bathroom toilet paper roll and put a new roll of toilet paper on top of the little plastic tube that you put the roll on. So improper.

a.       I guess my suite mates either don’t know how to replace a roll of toilet paper or they are just too lazy. Yet I also have never told them it bothered me, so it continues happening.

6.       Air conditioning blowing directly into my face when I’m sitting in a vehicle.

a.       The air vents could be pointed in my direction, or the air is on full blast.

7.       When people in Turlington plaza are walking towards you and do not move away from your walking path until the last minute, so you try to move out of their way and they end up moving in the same direction you move to, therefore making an awkward situation.

a.       I suppose they need to pay attention to where they are going and move out of the way, or maybe I need to move out of the way first.

8.       When I walk to campus from Springs and guys on their scooters cat call at me.

a.       I am just trying to get to campus, and I do not appreciate the cat calling. The guys could be just stupid and immature for doing that.

9.       When I am texting and I write things too fast so my phone can’t keep up with me and ends up making grammar mistakes.

a.       My phone could just be really slow and outdated; I mean it is two years old. I could be typing so fast that I make grammar mistakes.

10.   When my roommates alarm goes off about two hours before her class even starts, and it continues to go off at 15 minute intervals.

a.       My roommate keeps snoozing her alarm hence it keeps going off until I just get up and leave to class early because I can’t sleep anymore.

11.   Trying to use Finale on Mac for entering music scores.

a.       It is extremely difficult and complicated to do, especially for someone who has always used PC. I suppose that’s on my human error that Finale bugs me.

12.   Little pebbles or twigs or leaves get in your shoe and you can’t walk comfortably.

a.       I may have been wearing the improper shoes and allowed for things to get into them.

13.   The really sad animal rescue commercials.

a.       It is an issue that needs to be addressed so they use these commercials to tell people about it, but they are too long and depressing.

14.   When the 120 RTS bus is too full so it passes the bus stop you have been waiting at in the cold for 15 minutes.

a.       It may be that the bus is too high in demand so it gets too full and cannot pick up everyone, or that I take the bus at a popular time so I end up not getting a seat on the bus.

15.   When the Starbucks people write my name down on the coffee cup incorrectly.

a.       The people do not know how to spell names, at least not mine, but all they have to do is look at my card and spell my name right.

16.   When my mechanical pencil has lead in it, but the lead is broken in small pieces so I can’t write with it.

a.       I shake my mechanical pencil so the lead breaks.

17.   Contacts physically breaking in my eye so then I am in pain and can’t see.

a.       My eyes get dry so the contacts become brittle and I don’t use eye drops.

18.   After charging my phone to 100% and only to have it die in about five hours.

a.       I use my phone a lot, I have energy consuming applications.

19.   When people tell you to be at a place at a certain time and when you show up to only find that the other person is not there.

a.       They could have been in an accident, they could have had an emergency, they could be just running late.

20.   When the skin by my finger nails start to peel, causing me pain.

a.       I could have dry hands, so my skin peels.

The challenge:

There are a lot of things that bug me, but it was difficult being specific. What really was hard though was saying why they exist and answering that question. A majority of the things on my bug list have reasons for existing that are partially out of my control, or have reasons that are impossible for me to know. Therefore, giving a reason to their “why” took some thought and many ended up being assumptions, so there is no clear answer to some of my bugs. I find that rather challenging, not having an answer for everything.    

My Entrepreneurship Story

I have been exposed to entrepreneurship all my life, due to my parents being a pair of entrepreneur's themselves. They started their dental office The Smile Fairy Dental Spa nine years ago when my mother decided it was time for her to break away from the dental chain she was working for and open her own dental practice. Since then they have never turned back.

My parents hold an incredible story in my opinion, one about really attaining the American dream accomplished by hard work and perseverance. My mother became a dentist in Colombia first before finally settling in Miami, Florida and working here in the states. My father was a veteran from the Marine Corps and was a mail man. When I walk into their office all I can feel is pride for their hard work, and truly admire their success for creating this business from the bottom up.

Then years later, here I am taking this course on Entrepreneurship! What I wish to take away from this course is the inspiration and the tools necessary to just take a plunge and create something worthwhile for myself, and for the community.

Just today a good friend of mine from high school made a Facebook post stating that she has decided to follow one of her objectives on her bucket list and start an online business. She mentioned how she was going to disregard any fear and just go for it. (I have attached a link to her website if you would like to check it out!) https://www.etsy.com/shop/StudioBombus

To me that was very inspiring, and I wish to gain that sort of outlook on life from this class, just as my friend was able to attain it on her own.

Here's to making my entrepreneurship story a reality, whatever story that may be!

This is my mother Dr.Patricia Primero next to the office name at the entrance of her practice The Smile Fairy Dental Spa.
 

Karina Tamayo: The Introduction

Well hello everyone!

My name is Karina Tamayo and I am a first year undergraduate student here at the University of Florida.

I was born in Miami, FL nineteen years ago, but for about seventeen years of my life I have lived in Naples, FL.

My parents are from Cali, Colombia but they both arrived to New York City at a young age, so our family has quite the mix of Americana with some prominent Colombian tradition.

Currently I am a Music Performance Major, my instrument of choice being trombone. I was in the Gator Marching Band last semester and had the greatest time of my freshman life. Due to my involvement there I joined Tau Beta Sigma, which is a national honorary band sorority dedicated to serving the bands here at the University of Florida.

 So why am I in an entrepreneurship class you are probably wondering! Well the program I am in allows for me to pursue a degree in music, but it also allows me to pursue another degree in an outside field that I hope will become my future career.  Last semester I was on a Pre-Health track to medical school, but this semester I've decided that I needed a change and found that business could be an excellent area  to get into.

With that said, all of these recent changes have lead me to begin to question what I want in life. In all honesty how can I possibly know? In my opinion my life has just started. So currently I have simple wants, like to pass this class, have an excellent trombone recital this semester, hang out with my sorority sisters for spring break, and of course graduate from UF with some sort of degree. However there is so much more to life than these current sub-level desires.

I have been lucky enough to have parents who want me to be open and mindful of the world we live in, with that we have traveled the world together. Road trips across the United States, London, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica, Canada, and most recently Colombia have widened my eyes to the reality that exists outside the university campus.

I see that in my life I wish to attain three things, just three things that are general enough to cover a wide area of wants and needs: peace, love, and happiness. I believe that with those three powerful wants, my life won't be about some ultimate end goal, but instead an adventure story that I get to share with others.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to learning about you folks!

This photo was taken in Cartagena, Colombia during this passed winter break.

The Entrepreneur's Mantra: My Mantra

First blog post!

Hi everyone! (most likely just talking to myself) Here's to my first blog post.