As I enter the final stretch of this rather rigorous nine weeks, I continue to persevere through an unforgiving pile of makeup work. With a plethora of new tasks on my plate, I realized how overwhelming myself with a never-ending list of tasks is ultimately detrimental to what I am doing in that moment and what I plan to do in the near future. Therefore, I developed a greater understanding and appreciation for prioritization. Naturally putting ISM at the top of the list, I continued to invite professionals over LinkedIn and to grow my network. This time, however, I kept in mind the approaching deadline for the Original Work Presentation, and therefore looked for professionals who could serve as potential mentors. In addition, I continued to develop my business plan, which will play a multifaceted role in my ISM journey. Serving as both original work and as a submission to prestigious business case competitions, I worked my plan in a unique manner this week.

As my ISM activity centered around the ISM Business Symposium last week, this week my opportunity came in the form of the first meeting of the Youth Entrepreneurship Academy. Under the guidance of professional entrepreneurship instructors and Mr. Burns, I was able to begin my journey in the YEA! Program while having the opportunity to further develop my business plan, however, now under the guidance of trained instructors who could provide constructive feedback on my daunting yet rewarding journey.

Looking forward into the near future, I plan on eagerly awaiting the response of the many entrepreneurship professionals and business consultants I contacted and then following through with a research interview. In addition, like last week, I want to reach out to professionals in the field of waste management, mainly targeting professionals who work for the city, to learn about the processes used by city planners in effectively disposing of waste. Moreover, I plan on connecting with research professionals in the field of environmental engineering to establish fundamental groundwork for the expertise behind the creation of my final product or service, relating to coffee. To conclude, I believe that with the effort I am putting in at this moment, combined with a positive response from factors that I cannot control, I will set up for a grand finish to the start of the ISM journey.