NEXT PROJECT!!! (DODGEBALL TOURNAMENT)

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WHO WANTS ME?

With only a few months left before graduation I’m thinking of doing an internship with a small local business owner. Job shadowing isn’t part of my program but many of our students need to do that in order to graduate so it may be difficult to find an interesting business that doesn’t already have students working there. Would it be strange for someone to walk into your establishment and ask to work for free in exchange for their knowledge? Is it possible that I’m walking myself into a situation where people are going to think I’m insane or crazy and ask me to get the hell out? A few of the places I had in mind are small sole proprietorships like our local movie theatre, a consignment shop and the old comic book store downtown.

Although some of these choices may not offer the most business knowledge, I do believe that by shadowing someone who is hands on in every aspect of the operation I would become more comfortable with the idea of taking the risks of opening my first business. One of the reasons I would like to do this is because unlike almost everyone on the planet, I’ve never had a service industry job. My first job was working for a distribution warehouse as a lift truck driver which leaves me with little knowledge as to who I’m suppose to call when my store runs out of Pepsi or who’s good to call when the lights on your store sign breaks. I’m sure to everyone out there these things don’t seem like problems even worthy of thought but when you have the stress of running your own company these problems add up and create needless stress that reflects badly on your establishment. So if anyway in the area would like to have a free employee with a decent sense for business please let me know and maybe we can put something together.

NEXT MOVE

So I'm on winter break and I'm bored out of my mind. Lately I've been working on what my next move is going to be since year #6 at St. Lawrence College Cornwall is happening over my dead body. Sooooo......what do I do? Is it another school? Is it opening my first business? Is it going back to work in order to gain contacts and experience? Well no matter what, it definitely isn't going to be easy since every facet of my life over the past 5 yrs has had to do with our local community College and now I have 4 months left to find a new path to follow. Over the past 5 yrs, my life has been split between Student Union, SLC Athletics and classes, even my summer jobs took place at the College as I shared my time as Vice President of Student Union with my time running the Athletics Dept. when the Coordinator abruptly retired.

Over the past year or so I’ve been working feverishly to get my business plan together and yes, I DO have a plan…….whether or not it will be ready in time or if I can ever receive the funding to get it put in motion are a different story. With such a short amount of time left it might be best to take the smart road and transfer to another school that could offer me a bachelor’s degree after 2yrs but the idea of prolonging my education gives me serious gut rot. These last 4 months of classes are going to be my easiest semester so far so throwing myself into a future plan won’t be an issue as long as I can also make time for sports (Varsity Soccer) and event organizing for Student Union.

As my business plan becomes increasingly more detailed I’m slowly freaking out over the massive risks I’ll be taking even though my upfront costs are much lower than probably 90% of other businesses. My estimates to begin my first non-profit business are $30,000 and that includes a 1/yr lease + living expenses so the money isn’t a huge worry. The biggest worry is that I am already 28 (29 at the earliest this could happen) and the failure rates for new business are ridiculously high in this current economical meltdown. Match that with the fact that if this fails I’ll have no choice but to return to school in my early 30’s to try and earn a bachelors and it’s a scary…scaaaary adventure I’m about to embark on. Either way, moves need to be made and goals need to be reached so wish me luck and pay attention to your local papers as you might see my face more then you’d like to!

TIME GOES BY

I was cleaning out the pictures on my computer and decided to put a photo timeline together to show my transition into what we call adult hood. You'll notice a huge gap between me as a child and my late teens, thats because there simply aren't any pictures. Anyone who might have other pictures of my childhood please contact me because I don't. So here is a little peak into where I came from and to where I now.

PICTURES OF MY COLLEGE'S BACKYARD