Preparing Kids for Unknown Tomorrow
Hello, hello! My name is Morgan Buyse, I’m 19 years old and was born and reside in the wonderful city of Austin, Texas. When growing up in Austin, I was in the EanesISD education system for K-12 and graduated from Westlake in the Class of 2018. Now, I am currently in my second year of college at St. Edward’s University, studying Marketing and Graphic Design. Although Entrepreneurship is not my official Discipline, it is a true passion and huge part of my life and has shaped me into the Human & Student I am today.
My first experience with Entrepreneurship was in my Junior year of high school. Westlake had just launched its Business Incubator program, and I decided to join the program and learn more. Something I learned quickly is that when you’re 16, being taught how to create and run your own business is a daunting challenge, but with the right support, this challenge will make you develop, improve, and change your life for the better. All through the program, I saw my abilities, skills, and actions develop immensely. For instance, I used to be terrified of the thought of presentations. Throughout the entrepreneurship program, I began to look forward to getting in front of classes in speaking. Not only did I conquer a fear of public speaking, but I also became a more active and an involved student in all of my classes – answering questions, volunteering, and craving more knowledge. My goals changed too: I suddenly was setting higher goals for myself, I was in pursuit of better graders and started believing that I truly could have an impact on the world around me and had the potential to change the future.
Now that I’m in college, I am in the next phase of my entrepreneurial journey. The first activity I participated in during my Freshman year was our annual Elevator Pitch Competition and Business Plan Competition, where I achieved second place in both events & boosted my confidence and solidified my entrepreneurial drive. From that moment, I made it my mission to share the value of entrepreneurship and the skills you gain/develop with every student and person I could. Currently, in my sophomore year, I am the President of the Student Entrepreneurship and am actively in pursuit of that mission. I want to make sure every student has a chance to develop skills in the way I was afforded the chance to. Whether it’s their problem-solving abilities, public speaking, or even self-confidence, I have full belief that entrepreneurship can help every individual grow. Growth is encouraged through workshops, conferences, and value-based meetings, to push us all to be our best.
To wrap it up, entrepreneurship has changed my life. When I was 16 years old, creating my own business gave me the ability to develop confidence and that I never had seen before. I went from doubting my abilities and not speaking in classes, to pushing for greatness and sharing my opinions because I knew they had value. It developed my critical thinking skills, and I became a strategic thinker, easily adaptable, and an able communicator. It pushed me to think creatively and differently- suddenly, I found unique myself thinking outside the box, had an open mind and perspective, and was much more adaptable in any environment. Most of all though, I found value in hard work. Entrepreneurship taught me WHY hard work mattered and it pushed me to be a better person, a higher performer, and to want more for my life, leading me to the successes I have found today.
As someone who has gone through life both with and without entrepreneurship, I can truly testify to how much Entrepreneurship can change lives, inspire students and enable our leaders of tomorrow. With entrepreneurship we are creating and inspiring new generations of thinkers and the skills your a child learns through programs like these, are skills they will use and impact them for the rest of their lives.