JA Student of the Month, Anika
Would you please tell us about yourself? My name is Anika and I'm an 8th grader at Canyon Vista Middle School. I participated in JA’s It’s My Business Program in the fall semester, 2016.
What was your favorite part? My favorite part of JA was the part where we got to make a prototype of our project. I loved this part because it enabled me to use my creativity and be practical at the same time. I got to envision the final product and keep working out the kinks and flaws in our company, EZcon.
Did you learn anything about yourself during the program? I learned a lot more than I expected about myself during the program. I learned that I am an overachiever because I wanted to do a marketing video, life sized prototype, along with a well-polished presentation. I also however learned that I follow through on what I start, because my group and I achieved all these things. Lastly, I learned that I want to consider being an entrepreneur as a career choice.
How did your thoughts about Entrepreneurship change as a result of the program? At first I regarded Entrepreneurship as boring and easy. Over the course of the program I learned so much about what it takes to be an Entrepreneur and how the products that come out of entrepreneurship can change lives and open doors for people. Now all I think about is what I can create and how it can help people. For example, when I went to India over winter break, I spent hours perfecting and adding to a notebook with ample ideas on products I could make and sell to better the lives of the poor people living there (I even made a prototype of a type of shoe that is made with affordable materials for the poor). Before JA I would have never thought to do these things, but now I feel compelled to be as much of an entrepreneur as I can be.
What skills do you think JA helped you get better with? I feel that I got better with time management for sure, not over planning what my group and I could do, and being realistic.
Would you recommend that Canyon Vista have JA next year? Why? I would 10,000% for sure recommend the program again because it teaches kids so many life skills and valuable lessons like everything I said above. It also makes us think of the many problems and gets us wondering what a kid like us can do to fix these problems!
