Entrepreneurial Extracurricular Activities by Colby

Entrepreneurial Extracurricular Activities by Colby - September 2019 Scholarship Essay

Extracurricular activities have sculpted my high school experience. The extracurricular activities with which I have been involved have had a profound impact on me, from learning and practicing interpersonal communication skills in ultimate frisbee to discovering new avenues to express myself through music and performing arts. If I had the opportunity to create a high school extracurricular activity that would encourage young people to leave their comfort zone, develop communication skills, prepare for their future, and have a blast all at the same time, I would create an Entrepreneurship Club.
I do not speak of wishful thinking and postulations when I discuss the positive impact being an entrepreneur has on a young person's life - for I, myself, am an entrepreneur. Many times I find that the passions I discover deep within myself are best expressed through entrepreneurship, and I have found great joy and fulfillment in creating a card game company, a crafts booth, an online apparel store, as well as many other small businesses.
Through my entrepreneurship, I have found many new ways to express myself creatively, and an Entrepreneurship Club would help other young men and young women do the same. A canvas painter uses brushes and paint to create beauty; a sculptor chizzles in stone to create wonder; an entrepreneur employs ideas and dedication to create something truly amazing.
As an entrepreneur, it has been my privilege to have many opportunities to work side by side with many adults in a professional manner. These opportunities have been invaluable in my life! I have developed in confidence, work ethic, and professionalism. The vast majority of high school students graduate with extremely limited experience with professional communication - an Entrepreneurship Club would solve this issue.
Being an entrepreneur has taught me an abundance of skills and developed my character. One skill I have learned from being an entrepreneur is something I like to relate to the stock market (an area of business in which I have been moderately involved). The stock market is an incredible place, where the values of the shares of thousands of companies fluctuates every day. If an individual thinks a stock is going to increase in value over time, then they can make money by buying shares while the prices are low and selling those shares to buyers at a higher price later. If an individual thinks a stock is going to decrease in value over time, then they can short sell these shares. This means they borrow shares while the value is high, and they sell these borrowed shares for that high price. Now they owe their broker a certain number of shares. When the price of the shares decreases, the individual buys back the number of shares he or she had borrowed from their broker, but at a lower price. This investor then keeps the difference.
I have found this principle to be true in entrepreneurship as well. If an entrepreneurship venture I try makes money, then I have come out on top. If an entrepreneurship venture I attempt fails and cannot produce money, I can still come out on top, if I choose to learn from the experience. Either way, I have created a success for myself and for those with whom I associate. These experiences are not only possible for me. They are possible for anyone. I have the drive to create an Entrepreneurship Club because these lessons and blessings are available to all who are driven in their heart, and who have great plasticity of their mind.
I have experienced a phenomenon few teenagers have chosen to cause themselves to face: the entrepreneurial deliberation between have a stable, nine to five job, with passionately creating a start-up. I have also experienced something even fewer teenagers have experienced - the satisfaction of pressing on, despite the odds, and courageously creating a start-up. I don’t want to be one of the few anymore. It would bring me great satisfaction to create an Entrepreneurship Club so more young people could be influenced for good, and feel the great satisfaction of overcoming great obstacles in their lives. This would build confidence and create a passionate, hard-working society.
The following is a crucial lesson every high schooler must learn: just as they can win in the stock market whether the stocks go up or down, they can win in any venture whether it succeeds or fails. For this reason, and many others, if I had the opportunity to create a high school extracurricular activity benefiting the most young people, I would create an Entrepreneurship Club.