Halfway Reflection

Behaviors I used and developed to keep up with the requirements in the class were to focus on one thing at a time, time management, not to be afraid of the consequences of failure, mental resilience, and to keep trying even when I am fail. 

The first half of this class I have really been struggling. Every time I would try to get ahead in the class, something would happen, whether it is work, family issues, etc. There were moments I felt like giving up on both this class and just school as a whole. During all my years in school, I have never struggled as much as I have this semester. I have always had an easy time, but I have started to struggle to keep up because of so much that I have going on. I remember one moment in particular was a week after I had missed two assignments in this class. It was a Friday, I was scheduled to work, and I still had not had a chance to complete the three assignments for that particular week in this class while also having a discussion board due & studying to do for a midterm in my Sociology class and two assignments due in my FIN class. I was struggling to keep up with everything, it felt like I was drowning in my own life. This is my first semester working while going to school full time. To be completely honest, I am still struggling just not as bad as I was before. What pulled me through that moment were my mom and my best guy friend. They saw that I was “slipping away” and sat me down individually. They gave me both a reality check and a pep talk. They assured me that it was okay, it is okay to miss a few assignments, everything is not going to always be perfect the way I want, and that it is okay to fail just make sure that you keep trying. You have to continue to push yourself, always.

Three tips I would offer next semester’s student are:

1. Never give up, even when you are failing or struggling to keep up. You can make it through.
2. Do not overthink it. With many of the assignments, it is easy to overthink it; I did it a lot. Most of the time the simplest answer is the best one, just take it one step at a time and focus.
3. Understand what drives you and remember why you started this journey in the first place. You must remember the goals you set for yourself, your why helps you stay in touch with what is motivating your direction.

Idea Napkin No. 1

You. 
My name is Wisheka, and I am a Business Administration major pursuing Sociology minor. I have many talents I bake, design, and I always look for ways in which my passions benefit both others and myself. Education just happens to be one of the things I am passionate about. I believe that everyone deserves a good education, regardless of their social status or income level. That is how this business will come in to play. It will give me the opportunity to give children that opportunity.

What are you offering to customers? 
POD Schooling, which stands for Personal One-on-One Development Schooling, is both a service and a product. The POD chamber is a product and the actual schooling is the service. POD Schooling will allow children to be educated in their home while receiving one-on-one attention/tutoring that are learning focused.

Who are you offering it to? 
I am offering it to parents who want more for their children than what the current educational system and to students of grades pre-k to 12 who want to get more out of their education. The one thing all my customers have in common is that they care about a good education.

Why do they care? 
Well first, the only cost is the cost of the actual POD. POD increases the opportunity for students to get a quality education without all the “roadblocks”. If students truly care about their education and the parents truly care about their children’s education, then they will care about POD Schooling.

What are your core competencies?
What sets me apart from everyone else is my compassion, I care sometimes I care too much. I use this towards everything that I do. I have a drive and a passion like no other that is what makes me who I am.

Evaluate whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 
I believe that all of these elements work well together. The only weakness I see right now is that I am missing a very important market, and that is the actual schools. It seems a little ambitious to try to head straight for the school system. I think providing this service as an option outside the school system first and then work our way towards them.

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who: I found that my product/service would be in very high demand. There are not certain people or certain businesses that, although they share a lot in common with the others in my opportunity, nevertheless fall outside the boundary. It targets is main area/group of people.

What: The need for quality education without a high price and all the red tape is not the same as the need to change the current educational system. This need will be satisfied outside of the current “system”.

Why: The underlying cause of the outsiders' needs does differ from those on the inner bands. The people who my service would not be of use of would include the following: College students and adults who are no longer in any type of school.

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who is in need: Parents, teachers, and the students of grades pre-k to 12.	Who is not in need: College students and adults who are no longer in any type of school.
What the need is: The need is to increase the opportunity for students to get a quality education without all the “roadblocks”.	What the need is not: This service is not a fix all solution to the school issue, that would take the passing of laws and a clean sweep of school boards, which would take a long time. This service merely gives parents and students a better option.
Why the need exists: The school board and the government require the teachers and schools to follow so many rules and restrictions that it limits what the teachers can do and how they can help the students. It gives them no other choice, but to teach them all the same.	Alternative Explanations: This service can better the future of so many students and help them to reach their full potential better. It will give parents peace of mind that they have done all they can to help their child will have a bright future.

In summation, this service is an awesome option for anyone who would like to participate. This service can change children’s lives for the better and put parents at peace.

Solving the Problem

Children of school age, from pre-kindergarten to high school, have to go through a lot to get a quality education because there is a lot of red tape, politics, and other people’s views that gets in the way of a true education.

Service: "Personal One-on-One Development (POD) Schooling"

The parents will setup the POD chamber in the perspective student’s home. The educational system will provide a futuristic implications whereas all children are able to be educated in their home, receive one on one attention/tutoring and learning based NOT testing learning focused.

The expense will be covered by private donors and fundraisers will be the setup of the POD. Social activities are community based…it takes a village to raise one child. Therefore it takes a community to socialize that same one child.

The goal would be to eventually have it move into school systems and revamp the ancient educational system. for them, cost saving will be in the form of decreased transportation/busing, meals, electrical bills. All savings go toward teacher pay, educational materials, tech support.

 

Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Opportunities: Teachers are starting to more explicitly state their preferences towards their students, shaping them with their own views, and setting up one more obstacle that students have to break through to get to the real learning. There is enough red tape surround schools, keeping teachers from adequately teaching young students. There is an opportunity to create a different type of school/service.

The who: Children of school age, from pre-k to high school

The what: They have to go through a lot to get a quality education

The why: There is a lot of red tape, politics, and other people’s views that gets in the way of a true education.

Hypothesis:

    Testing the who: Everyone in my current 'who' share the need, parents also are the ones who want this for their children.

    Testing the what: Not all teachers are the problem, just some of them and it includes both private and public schooling.

    Testing the why: There’s no accountability for under-educated students, wasted funding, overcrowded, a lack of teacher education innovation, ignoring the educational opportunities that technology has afforded, every student is being treated the same, they give up on student too easily. There is plenty of why’s that could come up. By talking to the parents I learned just to what extent this issue could affect the child not just in their education, but also socially.

What I learned: I learned many important things from this assignment. After the interviews, I could tell that not just parents, but students would also want this. They see the opportunities this could afford them not only now in their school years, but also in their future.

Identifying Local Opportunities

• Helping hands, hearts
• http://www.gadcotimes.com/content/helping-hands-hearts
• A Catholic church in Quincy, FL does a drive, run by a woman named Huapilla, to collect items for families in Immokalee that were affected by Hurricane Irma. They wanted to collect any and everything a family would need to start over.
• The Problem: Hurricane Irma destroyed business and a plethora of homes in South Florida, leaving families to start all over again from scratch.
• The People: Everyone affected by Hurricane Irma has this problem.
• Lawsuit: Walmart worker fired after caring for sick child
• http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/08/24/lawsuit-walmart-worker-fired-after-caring-sick-child/598485001/
• After calling into work to take his sick child to the hospital, which would have fallen under FMLA, without notice, a Walmart cashier was terminated from the job two weeks later. He even presented a doctor’s note after he was wrongfully terminated to provide proof of his story.
• The Problem: One of its former Tallahassee Walmart cashiers is suing Walmart. They are firing employees for calling out to take care of family emergencies that would fall under FMLA.
• The People: The company of Walmart as a whole has the problem because the cashier is suing Walmart
• Whataburger sued over alleged racial discrimination
• http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/09/22/whataburger-sued-over-alleged-racial-discrimination/694535001/
• A Whataburger manager was “pressured” to hire only applicants. Instead, the restaurant general manager to hire the most qualified applicants. This restaurant general manager was repeatedly hounded, verbally and emotionally abused, to the point where she felt as if she had to resign. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sought to make Whataburger to keep from engaging in in such acts and ruled on the side of the general restaurant manager ask that they give her back pay, reinstate her, and pay her retributive damages.
• The Problem: Whataburger violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act having employment discrimination.
• The People: Whataburger has the problem.
• Parents divided in opinion after gender neutral teacher sends note home with 5th graders           
• http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/09/20/parents-divided-opinion-after-gender-neutral-teacher-sends-home-note-5th-graders/685061001/
• A teacher at Canopy Oaks elementary school sent home a welcome letter with her students that asked students to address her using gender-specific pronouns.
• The Problem: Some of the parents do not as if the teacher is addressing gender issues or even bringing them to the forefront by stating her preference in how she is addressed.
• The People: The parents of the students in Bressack’s, the teacher, classroom are the ones who have the problem.
• With Irma lurking, Tallahassee shoppers empty stores of hurricane supplies
• http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/money/2017/09/05/panic-sheer-panic/633974001/
• While Hurricane Irma was on its way towards its capital, people running into stores emptying the stores of hurricane supplies so that they could be reedy when the storm hit. It cost lots of chaos and caused gas prices to increase significantly.
• The Problem: Stores in Tallahassee were being emptied of hurricane supplies quicker than they could get more shipments in and on the shelves.
• The People: The stores and their vendors have the problem, but the customers of those stores are also affected.