Pathways Perspective: What's the plan?

Feb. 14, 2023
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Pathway Perspective

The FORGE Student Venture Pathways program helps build entrepreneurial mindset skills for all students. The eight core entrepreneurial mindset skills are Critical Thinking, Flexibility & Adaptability, Communication & Collaboration, Comfort with Risk, Initiative, and Self Reliance. Future Orientation, Opportunity Recognition, and Creativity & Innovation. Pathways Perspectives is a blog written by UA Student Venture Pathways assistants who connect with founders to learn more about how they utilized these skills and what the journey of entrepreneurship looks like for different founders.

For this Pathways Perspective and to commemorate National Entrepreneurship Week, Student Venture Pathways Assistant Sameeka Maroli, a sophomore majoring in Mathematics with an emphasis in Computer Science and a minor in Business Administration interviewed Becky Madigan.

It's career fair season, and the majority of students across the United States are set with their resumes, ready to find themselves an internship or job in the corporate world. Until now, our main goal of coming to college or university was to study, get a degree and start working. How do you compete with the fact that there is such a remote likelihood that everything that has been before and everything that exists now will be there tomorrow? So what's the plan? I believe it's time to think differently.

A common misconception is that entrepreneurship means starting a venture. Since I joined Arizona FORGE, my outlook on that definition changed immensely. I am a sophomore at the University of Arizona and a math and computer science major. I do not plan on starting a venture anytime soon, however, the value that an entrepreneurial mindset has given to me personally and professionally is immeasurable. I strongly believe that having an entrepreneurial mindset can bring success, no matter what path a person chooses.

Does an entrepreneurial mindset truly help, even if you are not an entrepreneur yet? As a math student, it was in my nature to prove my hypothesis. I interviewed Becky Madigan, an alumni of UArizona and a practitioner in anesthesiology in Tucson. But what truly piqued my curiosity was the fact that she and her husband (who is a cardiac surgeon) started a side business in real estate. What started initially as a necessity to buy a house during her college years, eventually turned them into entrepreneurs. I even had to wait to interview her, as she was in France closing in on another home!

What do you like about being an entrepreneur? "The possibility to make life and your career what you want it to be," says Becky. As I reflect on Becky's response, if you were to ask me the same question, I would say it gives me the power to recognize opportunities, adapt to a last-minute deadline, and think outside the box. Most often, these are not skills you pick up writing an exam or doing an assigned reading for class. Moving alone from India to Tucson, as an 18-year-old, I can say with much certainty that developing an entrepreneurial mindset isn't just another checkmark for your LinkedIn profile. It is something that will help as you are starting out as an adult too! Whether it is taking ownership of a project without guidance from your parents or working through obstacles independently - for instance buying your first car or learning how to cook and manage finances. An entrepreneurial mindset provides a foundation to have an optimistic nature, as you are focused on obtaining the skills and knowledge required to transition into a career. These attributes are definitely something you can develop, making you one step closer to being a resilient individual.

Being a full-time STEM student, working 20 hours a week, and trying to balance a social life is stressful, and makes me anxious at times. Those with an entrepreneurial outlook view difficulties as challenges to be overcome. They view failure as a chance to learn and let vision drive their actions. Developing this mindset is important because the skills you learn are relevant to every sphere of your life. Some advice Becky wanted to give herself as a college student that resonated with me and might with other students is to not be afraid of failure. Use it to launch yourself and enjoy the process as you do. No matter what comes your way, you can handle it.