Elevator pitch 3

https://youtu.be/KfEy8KHO_oU

The feedback that I received was in relation to the quality. As a result I tried shooting it on something other than my iPhone and the conversion in the quality was still poor I tried three different methods including an iPad and nothing came out of it. Moreover, I didn’t change much other than including the importance and why the need for my program.

Unfair advantage

Fraternity of brothers willing to help

Access to students to mentor

TFA

Volunteers to be assist in the program 

Funds to jump start under a local program

A local building in Miami to operate

My experience within related programs

Statistical analysis

Network of past teachers of various grade levels

Empathy

Network of brothers in various professions and background that can offer feedback

I have students who are more than willing to give back to their community

I have a few individuals who are apart of teach for America which would have them certified

Volunteers from a variety of cultural backgrounds to help diversify the teaching styles

Just like any business, this is going to need money and I have access to it through grants

Again would need a building with the resources to jump start

Personal experience goes a long way since I was one of them.

Statistical analysis  to see the progress as well as compare to other programs

Being that they taught several grade levels, they can best guide me on their perspectives

I’m able to relate with my clientele which would foster trust and sincerity 

One of the most important ones, I would say is network of fraternity brothers. A lot of my other resources revolve around networking opportunities involving them. Moreover, especially within my chapter lineage alone I have access to great resources without much cost to me.

Reading

I feel like the general argument and theme of the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck is about shaping your mindset in order to be successful. A lot of times people often talk about success and what it entails but their mindsets aren’t necessarily ready to get to that level. Their mindset, isn’t ready for the success on a variety of levels including the willpower to be successful despite the obstacles and challengers that may come. Moreover she talks about the fixed mindset which ultimately refers to not limiting your skills and knowledge. 

I feel like the book definitely enhanced what I learned in the sense that a lot of it is about preparing for success. It involves about approaching the situation differently than before as well as preparing it from all aspects. Moreover, it reinforced the process of networking specifically in that you have to categorize and find a role for each of them.

One exercise that I would suggest would be is to have a variety of different scenarios and ask how they would react to see if their mindset is limited. 

One of my aha moments, was more surprising moments was when they referred and talked about rewarding effort more than achievement in younger children. This surprised me because we live in the culture when it is the other way around and rewarding winning and success more so than trying. 

Social Capital

The first person is Mr. Allen who currently serves as an administrator at the community park back home in Miami. As a result, He runs a similar business to what I would like to do in little Haïti, under Fanm Kreyol.  He would be the domain expert in the scenario because it is something he has been doing for a while as well as manages the whole program.  I found the person through my contact list as I was in the program a few years back and he served as a mentor for me. I essentially took a picture of my idea napkin and sent it over to him and he gave me insightful feedback. He was ecstatic that I was doing the same thing he did for many others in giving back to my community with a different methodology. This person being in my network will help a lot as I would be able to run different ideas by him as well as can collaborate on a few projects. 

The second person would be Mrs. Noël. She is the site coordinator for an after school program in north Miami. She is filling the role of the expert on the market as she was previously a professor at a university and then a high school teacher. I found her through  a contact I had back in the day as I was involved within the school program as well. I was able to speak to her on the phone about my idea. She would be very useful to me in that she has taught both of the education levels that are related to my business proposal. 

The last person would be Mr. Valdez. Mr. Valdez is one that was a part of a local program while down south but the main difference was that his was a paid service that he was offering. He would fill the role of a supplier in the industry.  The way I found him was through my siblings who have friends in his program and i was able to speak to him then. Including him in my network would be able to give me a basis o. The curriculum he is using as well as his statistics. 

This experience I would say did shape how I plan to network differently in the future.  More so, I would think about the role and purpose of the person I’m networking with. I feel like, they differ in the sense that I plan on approaching people. Moreover, I feel like I would categorize the people that I meet in the roles that they can do for you. 

Idea Napkin 2

One of my biggest talents, I would say is my ability to read people psychologically as well as adaptability in a variety of situations. I would say that part of it can be classified under behavior analysis. As a result, I feel like I’m able to work with a variety of people in different learning and working environments. My work experiences would consist of mostly hospitality and customer service.  Currently, I work at a hotel as a front desk associate. And previously I worked as an electronics sales associate at Sears.  The position at sears, I would say taught me the most and allowed me to use my skills the best. While working there, I was paid on a commission based, in which I used various methods to be able to sell various electronic products.  Moreover, I am unsure of my current aspirations in the long run. I know the various options that are in place, but not a direction. I feel like this business would provide me with a lot of purpose and meaningful work because I would be impacting the lives of several young students.

The product I am offering to my customers would be essentially a tutoring/mentorship service that would focus on helping students in high school that need some extra help. The mentorship aspect would come in the form of providing students with college readiness skills such as cooking simple items, balancing your finances, applying for scholarships and other life skills. Additionally, the tutoring would serve to uplift and assist in areas where students are under the average level. The people that I would be offering this to would be primarily high school students in grades 9th-12th.  More importantly, what they would have in common is primarily the fact that there test scores are below average as well as not primarily college ready but are eager to be.

I think, they would care because, they realized that they need extra help but don’t necessarily have the means to get that extra help as some of their peers would. Additionally, they would be on the path to going to college, however don’t have much help or information. What sets me apart the most would be the fact that i was in that same situation while going through high school.  As a result, I joined various organizations to assist in bridging that gap for me and therefore have a variety of methods.

One of the things that I got from the feedback was the need for the actual system in place. As highlighted by  Kyle, the US is currently ranked 23rd in education. Moreover, he did mention the fact that essentially, people learn different ways so may be the test is not highlighting their true intelligence. Moreover, he did mention possibly implementing a hands on method. One way to enhance that would be through the mentorship the hands on. Moreover, I the teaching method would be more hands and exploring other cultural methods. 

elevator pitch 2

Unfortunately, I did not do the first elevator pitch so I do not have any feedback to compare to.

https://youtu.be/blpX1WdgK4Q

Customer Avatar

My customer avatar would be a young man or woman between the ages of 14-18, while in high school from an impoverished background and low socioeconomic status. He/She would be testing below the average or need additional help on test taking strategies as well as a few subject areas. The one thing they would have in common would be the simple fact of being eager to learn and better themselves as well as self-determined. Their hobbies and interests would range in a variety as I would be teaching them the skills and assisting them reach those goals as well as connecting them with opportunities to make that realistic. Moreover, these would be students that don’t have as much access to as many resources as others. So this program, would enable them to learn various methods that may improve their test scores and both college readiness and life. Yes, I do have various things in common with my customer avatar. I feel like to a certain extent it’s human nature to want to help,others like us or help others fix the things we went through. It’s not a coincidence, but rather it’s how we’re able to relate to our customers and the products were selling.

Alternatives

This assignment was kind of difficult for me since mine isn’t a tangible product being sold but rather a change of a current service. My implementation is the change of the current testing  system in the state of Florida. One of the biggest post measurements that I received after my interviews was cost of implementation and college readiness. In an effort to alleviate the price I suggested that we should do it on the computer where we limit the opportunity to cheat. The interviews also were concerned with the education levels in that would they have the sufficient amount of information for the students to be collegiate ready. Another concern that came up would be since the test would be administered every two years, how would that affect the integration of two different teachers. Lastly, the concern was in relation to other states and how students from he state of Florida would fair in competitiveness.  Again this made things that much more difficult since if this were to be implemented that it would have to be statewide. However, upon the conclusion of my interviews, I came up with doing a trial run in locations with schools that are already at a high level as to not impede any educational progress. So overall, my interviews were very informative and insightful in that this is something that would need to be discussed with the board of directors and would involve a lot of politics. As a result I have changed my focus to start off smaller in that I would start an after school program with the different mindset to have statistical data for when I eventually propose the district and then statewide change. 

Halfway

One of the first things that I would say that has helped me throughout this course would be time Efficiency. At the beginning of each week, I look at the upcoming assignments and then map out a timeline of when I’m going to do them. Although, the assignments are fairly simple, they do require some time and thoughtfulness.  I definitely had a few moments when I didn’t want to do the replies for the discussion. One of the main reasons is that it consists of doing 4 of em. One of the biggest trials came on super bowl Sunday. I’m a HUGE eagles fan and I was ultimately celebrating all day. However, I forgot to do my assignments before hand.  Instead of quitting, I muscled up the strength to do it during half time. The biggest takeaway I would say I have gained from this class is a change of mindset. Slowly but surely. This class has enabled,ed me to look at the world differently, in terms of opportunities all around us. Moreover, not only identifying the opportunities but being able to assess their value and feasibility.  The first tip I would offer would be open to for the openness and willing to adapt.  The second tip would be to use and apply the knowledge that is being taught to you. And the final tip would be to apply the same open mindedness in other aspects of your life.