Last July 6, 2015, we actually discussed a lot of things, but I cannot remember when was the discussion started or what was the first lesson discussed because that schedule was supposed to be our schedule for another subject. It was actually a super conflict schedule, but fortunately, our subject that has the original schedule that day dismissed us early because we only had our online quiz. After taking the quiz, we were in rush to join the discussion in this subject. When we reach the classroom, the discussion was already about the six different pictures. I do not know if that was still their first discussion, but I will start my reflection to the most liked discussion then the least liked discussion.
I actually liked most of the things discussed because of the fact that it tells us about the reality. About what could happen to us in the future once we graduate in college. The things that I liked most is about the qualities of a good entrepreneur, the SEED Model, the importance of Technopreneurship and we discuss again about the Default Mindset and Alternative Mindset. The first thing that I liked was when we discussed about the Qualities of a Good Entrepreneur. Before I tell the reason that I liked it, I will first discuss each qualities.
The first one is hardworking is a quality that not only an entrepreneur should have but also everyone. If we are hardworking we could finish things in the right time. No matter what happen, no matter what obstacles that you will encounter, you will really do your best just to finish your tasks on your desired time. If you are hardworking you could finish a lot of things. Most especially if you work hard for the good of others that you care most. Second is having a self-confidence, if you have that kind of quality you could speak comfortably in front of a lot of people. You have nothing to be worry of about yourself. On the way you talk, the way you do things or anything that you do. You are proud of all the things that you will do because you are confident about it. Third is someone who builds for the future, someone who has the ambition or dream to build good things for the good of his future. Someone who wants to make big and great things. Fourth is someone who is profit-oriented. Even though he builds for the future, he should also be aware on how big the profits or income that he could get. If ever in the future we will have our own company, we should not only think that we did it so that people will have a job, but also we should think the amount of profit or income that we could from it. At the end of the day, we are the one who will benefit from it. Fifth is someone who is goal-oriented. Even if we work hard to build our future then we do not think also about our goals why build it, then it seems useless. We should also have a list or think already about the goals that we wanted to achieve so that we can really say we already become successful if we already reach the goals that we wanted to achieve. Sixth is being persistent or in the other words determined, patient or persevere. Being persevere is one of my ten rules for success. Perseverance could lead you to success in everything you do, like in every task you need to finish. Such as when you are doing something then you thought that it would perfectly work. Then there an error occurred. You lost your motivation to work on it yet there is still a chance to make it work properly. You should try and try until you succeed. Like the quote from the movie of Walt Disney, Meet the Robinsons, states: “Keep Moving Forward.” You should never give up and do not be discourage easily. Seventh is someone who responds to feedback. Whatever things we do, we could not avoid receiving feedbacks from someone. Even if it is negative or positive feedback, we should accept whole-heartedly. We should also know how to responds from it, most especially if we receive a negative feedback. In everything we do, feedbacks from other people is always there, most especially negative feedbacks. Whenever we finish something, like an artwork, we cannot avoid feedbacks from others, either positive or negative feedbacks. Base on my experience, as I finish an artwork, some of my friends would tell me negative comments. Being discourage from what they say is not avoidable. The brighter side is, it is much better to receive negative comments from them. Because of that, I can enhance my skills and the things I am lacking of. I feel more inspired because they notice my work. Eight is someone who demonstrates initiative, even in just a small things, we should have initiative in whatever we do. From that, we do not need to wait for anyone who could really do that thing, if we could do our initiative. Like when you trust someone to do the specific task yet the deadline for that work is already getting nearer. So we should the initiative on our own than wasting our time for someone who could not do the job. Ninth is someone who is willing to listen. Whatever rank we will have in the future, if ever we will have our own company, even if we are the owner or even if we are just an employee, we should really know how to listen from the opinions of everyone. If we are willing to listen from others, then we can be an effective leader. We could what are the happenings in our surrounding if we are willing to listen. We will know how to deal with things if we are aware on our surroundings. Tenth is someone who sets his own standard. Everyone sets their own standards in everything they do. We should set our own standard so that we will be aware that whenever we do things, we could be sure if it really is doing fine if we reach the standard that we want. Setting our own standard also we could know that we really is consistent in doing the things we wanted to do. Eleventh is someone who deal with uncertainty. Whenever we do something, failures is always there. It is the thing that we cannot avoid if we wanted to be successful. To be fully successful, we should know how to deal with it. We should not give up easily if ever we encounter it because it would not lead us to success. Twelfth is someone who is committed. Whatever the things that we do, we should really be committed. To be fully say that we are successful, we should really be committed in our job. Even we are still a students, we should learn how to be committed. We should be committed in the course that we are taking now so that we will always have the courage to finish it. We should always do our best despite of the obstacles and difficulties that we will encounter because we are committed to it. Thirteenth is someone who builds on strength. If we know that we are good at something, we should use it to finish something. We should enhance the strength that we have so that it could lead us to success. We should already know the things that we are capable of. We should practice and enhance it, like when we are good at drawing. We should practice it until we are really good at it. In the future, it could help you in the field that you wanted to be. Maybe you will be one of the famous animator, then you can use the skills you already enhanced. Fourteenth is someone who is reliable and has integrity. Being reliable means that you are trusted to do a specific task, while having integrity is when you are honest that you could do the task that is given to you. If you are trusted to do a specific task, you should really do your best to finish it. Because of the fact that you are trusted by someone, you should not discourage them just because you were not showing the interest in the doing the job. You should let them know that you really is doing your best through your actions. The last but not the least, the fifteenth is someone who is a risk-taker. I think this is the only one qualities of a good entrepreneur that I can say that I possessed. Like what our facilitator said, that we really are risk-takers because at the moment that we enter University of Southeastern Philippines in the Institute of Computing and taking the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, we really are risk-takers. First of all, we really do not know what would be our life if we enter that field. So from that fact, we really take a risks just to experience the life of being an Information Technology student or just to follow the ambition that we wanted to be in the future. One of the factor that will lead us to success is to be a risk-taker. First of all, we do not know what would happen after we take risks. If we take risks, we will experience things that we never been experienced. No matter what would be the results of our taking risks, it is still for our own good because we could still learn things from it. If ever it is a failure or a success. At least we have tried to take risks. Like the activity that we did in our subject. We should learn how to pitch or we should share the ideas that we could think of. Ideas that are unique, ideas that never been thought by anyone or ideas that could help us become a technopreneur in the future. We actually started pitching since last week, I think. But I decided that I will not still take a risk in sharing my ideas like what others did, for some reasons. First, I am really not comfortable in talking in front of a lot of people, even if it is just a one class of students. Second, I am afraid if ever someone would ask a question then I will have a hard time answering it. Third, I am not ready to face what would be the feedback that our facilitator would give about my idea. Last Thursday, July 16, 2015, the day when I decided to pitch already because of the fact that the number of students who still not tried to pitch for batch one is getting smaller and the deadline for the contests that we need to join and pass our approved ideas is getting nearer already. So I decided to take risks already no matter what will be the result. I will face the reality and accept it and just try again next time. Then I passed the file for my presentation. I was really comfortable that time because I know that I am confident about my idea. I actually had the thought that our facilitator would really approved my idea. I am just really afraid of being questioned about my idea. I just sit down then practicing the lines that I will spit out when I will start to talk in front of my classmate, also thinking that the pitching should only last for one to two minutes only. I have the advantage for that because I know that whenever I am reporting in front of many people, I really tend to talk fast because I wanted to finish it sooner because I am really not comfortable staying for so long talking in front of them. I was waiting for my queue to pitch, and I am aware that I need to wait a number of pitches before I could pitch there. But unfortunately, I do not know why my destiny did it, I was shocked when I knew that it is my queue already. Of course, our facilitator would not like someone who is like ‘magpadili-dili’, like would prefer not to pitch anymore if they are in my position that time. So then I decided to go in front already and start my pitching. Still in shocked mode, I tend to forget the things that I need to say that I practiced. Maybe I was just talking in front for just a minute only. I think it is too fast or what. I do not know what to feel anymore. I was actually feel like running and I was like followed by a dog or a monster or something. My heart beat is too fast. Then I ask them the thing that I really do not want to know. Asked them what their questions is. Fortunately, no one asked, so I have the ‘wew’ feeling then. So I decided to look at our facilitator and getting ready for the final step, the decision, is it either approved or disapproved. Then he told me that I should just change the name of my application. Then gave me a bottom up hands. I was like dreaming, it was like the butterfly in my stomach that time was freed and starting to fly. My face formed a big smile and I was shocked. Honestly, I really do not know what to feel. Then that moment, I realize and learned the lesson that if you would not take a risk, you would not know what will happen. That was really one of my biggest achievement. At least I possessed even just a one qualities of a good entrepreneur even though I never dreamed being an entrepreneur someday.
The reason that I liked most the discussion about the qualities of a good entrepreneur, specifically, the fifteen qualities of a good entrepreneur, is that it could be my guide to reach my ambition and dream in the future. It is actually applicable not only being an entrepreneur, but also to every field that we wanted to be. We should possess those qualities so that we could be successful someday. As early as now, being a student, we should start practicing those qualities so that we will get used to it and apply it to our future jobs.
The next thing that I liked most in the discussion is about the SEED Model. It is actually literally based on the seed, where every plants started before they really become a fully-grown one. I think it is an educational system which every school here in the city of Davao applied, also the University of Southeastern Philippines. As a student also, we will be teach based on the said model. As we was still starting in the university, we also are seeds who will be watered with lessons, knowledge and wisdom to help us to grow to our desired professions. The SEED word actually has a meaning every letter. S stands for Self-Mastery, E stands for Environment Mastery, another E stands for Enterprise Mastery and D stands for Development of Business Plan.
The next thing that I liked most in the discussion is about the importance of Technopreneurship. Why do we need to take up this subject? Why do we need to learn about it? How could we become a good technopreneur? How important is it in our lives? The first importance of Technopreneurship is its employment creation. Technopreneurship was introduced to us not only because we could learn a lot from it, but also because we could help the city of Davao to improve its economy. As we notice nowadays, people preferred to go abroad and seek for a job which has a bigger salary than working here in our country. It is not only because jobs here has smaller salary than the other countries, but because people, most especially who were graduated from colleges, after they graduate, they are unemployed. They could not find a job suit for their degrees because our country is lacking of jobs or company that employ degree courses. Our country actually has a number of companies but just a small companies that could only handle small jobs with small salaries. That is why people that has a degree preferred to seek jobs in other countries. So we were teach about Technopreneurship, so that if ever we will become a technopreneur in the future, we could build our own company. We could help the city of Davao improves its economy by giving the people of Davao, most especially the people who graduated in college, a job that suits their degrees, so that they will no need to seeks jobs from other countries. They will prefer to stay in our country because their family lives here. The second importance of Technopreneurship is it helps or used our local resources. Because of the fact that Technopreneurship in our country helps our economy to improve, we should really use ‘sariling atin’. We do not need to import things that we need when we want to be technopreneur. We should use our local resources, our local materials and our people. We do not need to employ professionals from other country to build a better company. We already have a lot of it here in our country. We could employ our people and give them jobs, like what its first importance is. The third importance of Technopreneurship is decentralization and diversification of business. Because of technopreneurship, our economy now changed a lot. Technopreneurship involves innovations and new ideas which helps improve our economy and the business in our country. That is why we, now as student, was taught to think of new ideas or innovations that never been made, to introduce it to many people and maybe someday, it could be one of the innovations that will use in our country. The fourth importance of Technopreneurship is its promotion of technology. We do not only talks about business or entrepreneur itself, but we also deal with technology, from the name itself, Technopreneuship. Because of Technopreneurship, it promotes technology, most especially new technology. Technologies that helps improve the economy of our country. Not just the economy but also every aspects of our country. Our education, our government, our business, our establishments and also our everyday lives. Technologies that help us improve our lives, like the things we use to do. Honestly, technologies now makes people lazier. Because of the technologies that were getting evolve every year that made our jobs much easier to do. People tend to finish their jobs for just a small time. But the advantage of it is that, you could finish a lot works for a specific time because you could just do them easier. The fifth importance of Technopreneurship is its capital formation. Technology is the capital of every business in our country which the Technopreneurship deals with. Because of the new technologies, new idea or innovations that created by the technopreneurs, our economy was improving. It also makes our lives a lot easier. Without Technopreneurship, what would be the business world in our country would be that most of the businesses now deals with technology. The sixth and last importance of Technopreneurship is its promotion of entrepreneurial culture. Like what we are taught now in our subject, we need to think of new ideas or innovations that we could use in the future as our starting point to generate money. By the help of Technopreneurship subject, we, as an Information Technology students, we will teach how to deal with the reality once we graduate in our courses. We will also learn how to start a new business, for the sake of our future and for the sake for our countries economy, to help it grow a lot bigger. When we could start our own business or company, we could give our own people a jobs so that they will not prefer to go abroad and seek if they could already find it here in our country. To show that we Filipinos could also compete from the other countries when it deals with technology.
We also discuss again about the main purpose of our subject, Technopreneurship I, is to change our Default mindset into an Alternative mindset. Default mindset is what we all thinking towards our future. We all thought of the same things. We were sent to school, to learn new things or the things that we needed to learn. We graduate in grade school, in high school, and then in college. After that, we will look for a job to make money. Then after we were sent to school by our parents, we will be then help them in exchange of them sending us to school and study. We will provide the things that they provided for us to be able to finish our studies. We will now then give them everything that they need to recoup everything they have given to us. We will now the one who will provide them food and shelter. It is like an exchanging gifts in Christmas Day, they gave us gift and in exchange, we will also gave them gift with the same quality that they have given to us. That is our default mindset. Another mindset which will the one to change our default mindset is called Alternative mindset. We were sent to school, to learn new things or the things that we needed to learn. We graduate in grade school, in high school, and then in college. After that, we will not focus on looking for a job, as just an employee. We should aim being an employer of own business, if it will grow bigger, will become a company sooner or later. We could make money with our own way, with our own business. So then we could everything that our family, not only needed, but also the things they wanted. If things could get better, we could be famous in the whole world. We will become the boss, we will give our people their tasks. We will forget about the Default mindset that we always have in our mind. It could make a big change in our life.
Those are just the things that I liked most in our discussion last July 6, 2015. The fifteen qualities of a good entrepreneur, the SEED Model, the six importance of Technopreneurship and the discussion about the Default Mindset and Alternative Mindset. The next thing is about the things that I liked least in our discussion. Even though I liked a lot most of the things that were discussed, I have also things that I liked least. Which is when we discussed about the business plan and six images that show the reality of the situation of our country as of now.
The first thing that I liked least is when we discussed about the business plan. What is a business plan? A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals. It is the roadmap of our business that outlines our goals and how we plan to achieve those goals. We need to develop this plan to achieve our goals. In the development of our business plan, we should be self-mastered, environment-mastered and enterprise-mastered. The first three letters of the SEED Model could really be applied in the business plan. The Self-Mastery, Environment Mastery and lastly the Enterprise Mastery. I know that after we deal with pitching our new ideas and innovations, sooner or later, we will then deal with creating our own business plan. I know that we need to learn how to do it for our own sake to become a good entrepreneur someday. I know that it is for us to practice how to deal with it, for us to learn if ever we will become a technopreneur someday. But I hate the fact that we need to do it not because we just taught on how to do it but also because it is one of our requirements to finish this subject. I know it is hard to do and it takes a very long process before we could say that we really passed this subject. Because base on the opinions of the people who already took up this subject but receive an incomplete grade, it is really hard to deal with our facilitator when it comes with creating the business plan. I know that business plan is more on a documentary task, or let me say, it is really a documentary task. Which I found it hard to do because it is my weakness when it deals with composting sentences, paragraphs or a document, like what I am doing right now. Now, I cannot stand anymore thousands-thousands reflections, so how could I deal with the business plan later on? But still, I am still optimistic that I could really finish this subject and pass the requirements that needed to pass. As long as I could just finish my course, I will face every obstacles and trials that I will encounter soon. The brighter side is, it is also for my own good.
The other thing that I liked least is when we discussed about the six different photos which explains the situation of our country right now. I really do not like that discussion because I hate to know that the situation of our country now is getting worst. The first two photos shows the image of a person that does not have a pleasing personality. To get a job easily, having a pleasing personality is one of the requirement. We should not only be an educated person but also have a pleasant appearance that could attract the employers in the company that you are applying for. Like in the two photos, the first photo is a man who is very fat which shows that he has no time take an exercise which leads him to have a body like that. It is actually not pleasing when you want to apply a job, most especially jobs in the offices. You should also be physically fit so that you can take the tasks properly. If you are healthy, you can finish your assigned tasks on the given time. When you tend to be unhealthy, you will get tired easily and maybe you cannot finish the tasks at the given time. The other photo is a woman who honestly has an ugly face. Has a broken teeth and dark skin or a woman who has no care on his appearance. If you will apply for a job then your appearance was like that, you will be fired right away even though you have not still get hired. As a woman, we should take care of our appearance, most especially when we are facing a lot of people. They will get discourage easily when they will just look at us, even they do not need to speak with us. Those two photos explains the reason that we really need to have a pleasing personality, which leads us to the other two photos. Shows unemployed person, which will happen to you if you have no pleasing personality. You will never get a job because of your appearance which makes you unemployed even though you graduated in college. Having no pleasing personality is not the only reason why we cannot get a job. The other reason is that our country is lacking of businesses or companies that could give every Filipinos a job. Like what the goal of Technopreneurship, employment creation. Technopreneurship was introduced to us not only because we could learn a lot from it, but also because we could help the city of Davao to improve its economy. As we notice nowadays, people preferred to go abroad and seek for a job which has a bigger salary than working here in our country. It is not only because jobs here has smaller salary than the other countries, but because people, most especially who were graduated from colleges, after they graduate, they are unemployed. They could not find a job suit for their degrees because our country is lacking of jobs or company that employ degree courses. Our country actually has a number of companies but just a small companies that could only handle small jobs with small salaries. That is why people that has a degree preferred to seek jobs in other countries. So we were teach about Technopreneurship, so that if ever we will become a technopreneur in the future, we could build our own company. We could help the city of Davao improves its economy by giving the people of Davao, most especially the people who graduated in college, a job that suits their degrees, so that they will no need to seeks jobs from other countries. They will prefer to stay in our country because their family lives here. The other last two photos shows a group of people or organization that having a rally in front of some government offices. If people could not get a job here in our country, it will lead them to have a rally for being still unemployed despite of the money from the taxes of the Filipino citizens. For being unemployed, it will lead us to poverty.Poverty is one of the problem we are experiencing in our country now a days. In our news every day, they always tell us how poor our country is. Our country is an archipelagic state, it means our country is a group of islands connected by a body of water. Because our country is composed of islands, we also have a lot of tourist spots and abundant in natural resources regarding also that we are a tropical country. Despite of those things that we are rich in, our country is poor specifically our economy. Additionally, we have a lots of governments who obviously corrupted most of the money of our country which makes our country poorer. To develop and make a changes in the statues of our country, we should change our form of government or change anything from our government to improve our situation.
By the help of Technopreneurship, we could start and make a change by build our own business, make a changes in the situation of our country. Let us start improve the economy of our country so we could give our fellow Filipinos a better job and a good salary to help them improve their lives also.
