Entrepreneurship story

Since Sophomore year, I have wanted to pursue a career in journalism. Yes, dreams change, but for me, this has almost always been set in stone. Senior year of high school I was able to run a state journalism convention through the Florida Scholastic Press Association as the State Chairwoman and served as the Editor in Chief of my high school yearbook. Through both these opportunities, I gained ample experience, yet the one that has taught me the most has been one I never expected to occur and continues to inspire me. Halfway through my senior year of high school, a junior from another part of Florida contacted me saying she had seen me at the Florida Scholastic Press Association convention and was planning on making her own magazine. Her idea was to create a magazine for those to speak their mind outside of social norms and talk about important issues that aren't always highlighted in mainstream media. As much as I loved the idea, I knew having a student-run publication would be extremely challenging, especially since most of the staff didn't live in the same area. Yet, we took it on, and I can wholeheartedly say it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. SURJ magazine was brought to life, with contributing writers and photographers from all across the world. The vision for the magazine stood to be true throughout the making of it, as I served as the content editor and still do. This taught me not only about how to lead a team, but handling our own finances, making the website, and building the theme that the magazine would stand on. I honestly never thought I would make my own magazine, especially with other high school students, but issue one, Insurgence, was released a couple weeks ago, and we are planning on making a second issue. As students, it's hard enough to keep up with school work and other outside activities, but this magazine was 100 percent worth it, and I can't wait to recreate a second issue.

Although this class is required for my minor, I have enjoyed the material so far, and am finding a lot of it to be beneficial in teaching me ways to be a better entrepreneur. I honestly didn't even understand that I already was an entrepreneur, and how much entrepreneurship skills I could learn to better my skills as a journalist, and digital creator. I look forward to continuing to learn about how to increase my ability to become a better entrepreneur and applying these skills in my everyday life, including SURJ.