Find the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Do you know any entrepreneurs? What do they have in common? Common words to describe entrepreneurs include passion, perseverance,  hard work, and creativity. If an entrepreneur is doing it right, they love what they do. Why would you leave a stable office job and paycheck if you weren’t pursuing what you love?

Not only are entrepreneurs passionate self-starters, but they also are a very individualistic. Entrepreneurs are their own bosses for a reason. Research has shown that entrepreneurs are mainly protean career-oriented,  meaning they like to manage themselves. These protean-oriented people usually jump from job to job until they find what fuels their fire, and sometimes that means starting their own business.

As seen on Shark Tank, entrepreneurs can come in all shapes and sizes. Tonight, entrepreneurs will come in the shape and size of student organizations. Come to Alumni plaza from 5-7 to see what pitches for events by student organizations will get funded! Also, check out Roxy’s grilled cheese while you’re there. They will be serving 150 grilled cheese including tomato and cheese, bacon an avocado, pulled pork, and grilled cheese.

How Big Will Your Dot Be?

What a wonderful weekend of growing our student leadership skills. Andrew Jenks taught us that no is a starting point, Michael Miller taught us team building skills, and various breakout sessions enforced the social change model, discussed in a blog post last year.

The social change model uses the 7 C’s: citizenship, consciousness of self, congruence, commitment, collaboration, common purpose, and controversy with civility, to bring out social change. Student leaders were given these skills to implement in their programming to ensure a common theme of social change. Examples such as #BlackLivesMatter and Kylie Jenner’s #IAmMoreThan campaign were shown to see how simple steps can be taken in the direction of civic engagement.

The world can be changed with one simple step. As student leaders, you can put on a massive campaign, or hold one small event. Every step counts. Just like in the video below, one small dot can make a different in many people’s lives. What will your dot be?

What is one thing your group or club will do to envoke social change? Take our survey here.

Post-Conference Inspiration: Now What?

If you’re a student leader, you probably know that thrilling feeling of inspiration pumping through your veins after an inspirational conference or talk. However, this fire doesn’t burn for long after the conference. It’s important to jot down your ideas before you dive back into the not as fun non-conference world. This short-lived inspiration can follow an event such as the one this weekend, the Student Leadership Conference. This weekend will be full of inspirational speakers that include students, business owners, professors, and staff. These speakers will discuss ways to be a better leader, a self-starter, and how to Leave Your Mark Through Change.

The feeling of inspiration after conferences such as these is comparable to a volcano. After, I just want to be a volcano that erupts positive change in my community. I feel like I want to do everything at once. Ideas flow like lava.

Not every idea can be brought to life at once, however we must use turn this lava flow into igneous rocks of change. Big rocks were sediments at one time, and all great ideas were mere outlines at times. Here’s some tips on what to do with post-conference inspiration.

1. Write down all of your ideas.
2. Talk to your fellow e-board members about your ideas
3. Mark down perspective dates in your calendar for dates
4. Meet with e-board members and come up with details for your ideas
5. Eventually start taking steps to make the idea happen!

What’s a great event that you planned as a student org that was a result of #PostConferenceInspiration?

Finding Inspiration in the Madness

September is the time for new beginnings. It’s almost as much of a new beginning as the new year. When we’re back at school, there’s so many things calling for us to be inspired. Perhaps projects for school, our own hobbies and interests, projects at work, or even things to do on the weekends call for our inspiration. If we are inspired, our ideas and projects are just as inspired and successful.

Talking about how he got started in film-making, keynote speaker for the leadership conference Andrew Jenks said he’d been attached to the video camera ever since his mother gave him one as a boy. After moving around a few times, it became his best friend that was always there for him. He’s always been interested in seeing how other people lived. So, he set out to document the lives of normal people. That’s what he does on his MTV show, World of Jenks,

He found his passion of film-making, and keeps it up consistently. His advice for young film makers is to take out your phone and start recording a story. He sees anything as a story, he’s inspired by every day people. What are you inspired by? Here are some suggestions to find inspiration:

• Meditate
• Take a walk
• Read books and articles in your field
• Watch movies, videos,or documentaries in your field
• Get some exercise/fresh air
• Sit on a bench and people watch
• Mess around on your instrument
• Stream of consciousness write

Once you find something that inspires you, keep at it! If your field of study in school is unrelated to your passion, still do your passion on the side. Your soul will thank you.

Have questions for him? Tweet us your questions with the hashtag #SSUJenks and register for the leadership conference here: http://www.salemstate.edu/student_life/26038.php