> SOUTHERN INDIANA —
Children are constantly dreaming of what they want to be when they “grow up” — whether it’s a little boy determined of becoming a firefighter or a little girl dreaming of being a veterinarian.
Recently, several teenagers took a step toward making their dreams come true by attending the first workshop of a Youth/Adult Mentor Entrepreneur program sponsored by the Indiana University Southeast School of Business.
The workshops began last year as a way to help entrepreneurial youth with big ideas for their futures create paths to reach their goals. The six-week program was designed to help teenagers interested in the possibility of starting their own business identify their strengths, learn about owning a business and create their own business plan.
Brenda Swartz, director of the Regional Economic Development Resource Center, has played a key role in getting the program started and said she hopes the workshops will encourage local teenagers to “get out there and get their feet wet.”
“One thing that we try to do is to get these kids to step out of their comfort zones,” Swartz said.
She said the program’s leaders, including an IUS professor and entrepreneurial adult mentors, will help teenagers find their strong points and learn to accept change, which she hopes will translate into the business world. Swartz also thinks the program will have a positive effect on the community.
“Hopefully it will ultimately stimulate the economy,” Swartz said. “And the main way to do that is with our youth.”
The five-year pilot program was funded by a grant, but Swartz said she hopes it will be self-funded and continue at the end of the five years. She said that if she can reach local youth, she thinks the program will continue to be successful.
Another way Swartz hopes to continue the program’s success is with help from the volunteers. Along with assistance from three adult mentors, IUS professor of business administration Michael Harris leads the entrepreneur workshops.
“The goal is not to be Bill Gates. In fact, Bill Gates’ goal was not to be Bill Gates,” Harris told the teenagers at a recent workshop.
Harris told participants that reaching their goals of starting a business must be driven by their own strengths and ambitions. He encouraged them to set goals and if they don’t succeed the first time, to try again.
“Ready, fire, aim. Try it and see what happens,” said Harris, who pointed out that although you can “go for it all” first, it is still important to “aim” in order your reach goals.
Harris, who teaches undergraduate and graduate entrepreneur courses, said he believes everyone is an entrepreneur in today’s world of constant change. He believes that the best way for anyone to reach their goals is with practice and determination.
As the students at the workshop listened to Harris, they each shared their dreams with the class. Seventeen-year-old Kate London dreams of owning a gallery in New York and has already started preparing with an internship at a local photo gallery. She says she has already learned a lot on the way to reaching her dream.
“I feel like a lot of the things I’ve already learned come from the mistakes I’ve made,” London said.
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