Week 4 Reading Reflection

In this week's reading, the biggest surprise to me was the misconceptions of what creativity and innovation really are. Before the reading I believed some of those misconceptions but now I have a clearer understanding of what they are and that every single person has the ability to be creative and innovative.

One thing that confused me abut the reading was that the author said that the phases for a creative phases did not have to occur in the same order but the way he explained the phases it seemed that you couldn't just go to phase 2 and skip phase 1. You need phase 1 to be able to do phase 2 and respectively with all the other phases of the creative process.

Here are the two questions I would ask the author:

1. We hear many idea killers every day, which in turn kill our creative ideas. How do we go about to ignore these phrases or words? How do we stop using them ourselves?

2. How do different mindsets affect creativity and innovation? And how would one go to changing their mindset to be able to achieve better creativity?

I agree with almost everything the author wrote about in this week's reading but I feel like the sources for innovation and creativity are a little scarce and that almost everything can become a source for either creativity or innovation.

Top 5 World Problems

This is a rank-order of the top 5 world's biggest problems and top 5 most implementable solutions.

Most Serious Problems	Most Implementable Solutions
1. Corrupted Governments. There many corrupted governments in the world in which they take money and use their power for their benefit instead of doing good things for the people of the country. This prevents the development of the country and of its citizens.	1. Energy. Solution: Putting more money and time into research to find a clean, green, and efficient source of energy.
2. War. This should be obvious as to why it is a big problem. Conflict between countries arises to war and war ends with many people hurt and dead (both civilians and military). Also many things might get destroyed during the war which will hurt whichever country financially.	2. Poverty. Solution: Creating more jobs and making the education more easily obtainable all help to reduce the poverty of that country.
3. Terrorism. Recently terrorism has been a a big problem especially with all the religious extremists that are killing people. Many innocent people die in these incidents making people fear even their homes where they should be feeling safe.	3. World Hunger. Solution: It is difficult to completely eliminate hunger but we could reduce hunger by having places or giving benefits to those that can not eat which will allow them to eat. In countries, like Africa, we could give them resources which will allow them to produce their own food.
4. Hunger. A big portion of the world is suffering from hunger. Many areas in every part of the world, even the United States, suffer from this. World hunger goes along with poverty too, since one of the biggest reasons people go hungry is because they don't have the money to get the resources need to eat.	4. Over Population. Solution: It is difficult to completely eliminate hunger but we could reduce hunger by having places or giving benefits to those that can not eat which will allow them to eat. In countries, like Africa, we could give them resources which will allow them to produce their own food.
5. Climate Change. Climate change is a big problem since the weather and temperature of areas in the world change. This change could lead to extinction of many species on Earth. I also harms humans in many ways since the environment in which they live in will change.	5. Climate Change. Solution: Eliminating the greenhouse gases that humans keep putting into the atmosphere would help to solve climate change but how do we completely eliminate these greenhouse gases.

• I choose corrupt governments as the top problem because coming from a third world country which has a corrupt government I know what a corrupt government can do to its country. Corrupt governments usually stop the progression of their country and do not allow it to develop. Without corrupted governments it would be easier to solve other world problems and it would make it easier for humanity to develop and evolve.
• I choose energy as the most implementable solution since I believe that to find a clean and renewable energy, all you need is money, time and research. Even if we can not find a 100% clean and renewable source of energy, anything close to that would work just as fine. Especially as technology advances, the chances of finding the energy source increase.

Identifying Local Opportunities

1. Miami-Dade healthcare operator convicted of $56 million Medicare scam
• http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8E3CAA2D7D0A8?p=AWNB
• Khaled Elbeblawy had three agencies in which he falsely billed Medicare treatments and services that patients did not need. He bribed crooked doctors so that the patients could qualify for the services which were then billed to Medicare, a tax-payer funded program.
• The problem is that there are some people who are taking money from Medicare which could lead to loss of many people medical help. It is also a waste of the hard earned money of tax-payers
• Medicare has the problem but the problem affects more than Medicare, it affects both the tax-payers and all of the people on the Medicare program.
2. Andrés Oppenheimer: Latin America's time bomb: the "ninis"
• http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A83B0B214F5418?p=AWNB
• Ninis are youths in Latin America that neither work nor study and they are increasing at alarming rates with 20 million of them in the past decade. They are expected to bring a greater inequality, crime rate and poverty in the Latin American countries. These ninis are also unlikely to get jobs in the future.
• The problem is that these male ninis usually join gangs or crime syndicates which in return incresed crime rates and homicide rates and the female ninis (which is two thirds of the ninis across Latin America) are getting pregnant which increases the amount of ninis.
• Kids who have no education or a very short education and that have no jobs, which in terms making it unlikely they will ever get a job which might lead to a life of crime.
3. Apartment demands prove costly
• http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A9366D47EFAD60?p=AWNB
• Apartment mortgages have increased to whooping $1.002 trillion at the end of 2015, which is the highest since 2007. Most of the renters in the nation are what is considered "cost-burdened renters" which means 30 percent of their income is used on housing. And the reason for these increased rental prices is the demand for apartments.
• The problem is that the demand for apartments keeps increasing, so the price for rental will also keep increasing making it harder for people to pay their rent.
• People who do not make that much money and can not afford a home so they have to rent an apartment.
4. Historical site being neglected
• http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A9366CBAAA0160?p=AWNB
• There is a historical site in Miami called the Miami Circle. It was discovered 17 years ago and it is a 2000 year old landmark. Except people are not respecting it and no one, but a few, are trying to save it and the government not the state are like putting fences around or even trying to maintain it.
• The problem is that if we do not do anything for it we will loose a piece of history and also that people need to learn to respect the past and care for it.
• Kids and adults who will never get to see the historical site because of the disrespect and ignorance of other people.
5. Jobless claims hit 6-month high
• http://infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/15A8E37879B1BEB0?p=AWNB
• The amount of people looking for unemployment benefits rose to a high last week since July but the amount of applications is at an all-time low. Applications for aid rose from 10000 to 293000 but these always rise since the holiday temporary workers get laid off.
• The problem is that more people are looking for the unemployment benefits even when not looking for jobs.
• The people affected are the one giving the unemployment benefits and the people who are unemployed too.

A Very Short Interview Of A Guatemalan Entrepreneur No.1

I had a very short interview with a Guatemalan woman named Wendy de Cifuentes, my best friend's mom. She is a very hard working and smart person. She can be both ruthless and kind. What makes her an entrepreneur is that she looks for products from other countries that don't exist in Guatemala and sells them there.

These where the questions asked during the interview:

1. Q: What should my expectations in becoming an entrepreneur?
   
    A: There are many things you will never see coming when you are an entrepreneur but there are a few things which you can most likely expect and that is taking big risks and a lot of failure. Just know that if you work hard and never give up it will eventually work out for you.

2. Q: What does it mean to you to be an entrepreneur?

    A: Even after all these years of being an entrepreneur this is still a hard question to answer. Well I guess that to me being and entrepreneur is when your willing to not to be afraid to take big risks and to frequently fail while working hard to make the business you have in mind a success.

3. Q: What do you wish you would have been thought before becoming an entrepreneur?

    A: I wish I would have known how to better manage a business. After awhile you learn by yourself but I wish I would have known from the beginning because I would have made my life a little better.

(These might not be the exact answers since I translated them from Spanish into English.)

I learned that every entrepreneur is different and that they all see the world from a different point of view. There is one thing they all have in common though, and that is the ability to take risks for their business without the fear of failure or success. I also learned that you can't fully expect everything that is gonna to happen because they where will be many unexpected events that will happen.

World's Biggest Problems

Trying to figure out what are the world's biggest problems are is hard since there are too many problems in this world. Here is the list of what I believe to be the world's biggest problems.

1. Hunger.

A big portion of the world is suffering from hunger. Many areas in every part of the world, even the United States, suffer from this. World hunger goes along with poverty too, since one of the biggest reasons people go hungry is because they don't have the money to get the resources need to eat.

Solution: It is difficult to completely eliminate hunger but we could reduce hunger by having places or giving benefits to those that can not eat which will allow them to eat. In countries, like Africa, we could give them resources which will allow them to produce their own food.

2. War.

This should be obvious as to why it is a big problem. Conflict between countries arises to war and war ends with many people hurt and dead (both civilians and military). Also many things might get destroyed during the war which will hurt whichever country financially.

Solution: I believe that the only way to solve war is to find another way in which governments can fight without risking the lives of people. And maybe, because of advancement in technology, it will be by virtual means.

3. Corrupted Governments.

There many corrupted governments in the world in which they take money and use their power for their benefit instead of doing good things for the people of the country. This prevents the development of the country and of its citizens.

Solution: The only way to stop corrupted governments is for the citizens of the country to rise and eliminate the corrupted government. This can also be done peacefully if done correctly, without risking lives.

4. Climate Change.

Climate change is a big problem since the weather and temperature of areas in the world change. This change could lead to extinction of many species on Earth. I also harms humans in many ways since the environment in which they live in will change.

Solution: Eliminating the greenhouse gases that humans keep putting into the atmosphere would help to solve climate change but how do we completely eliminate these greenhouse gases.

6. Terrorism

Recently terrorism has been a a big problem especially with all the religious extremists that are killing people. Many innocent people die in these incidents making people fear even their homes where they should be feeling safe.

Solution: There is not much you can do about terrorism, other capturing and sentencing the groups which are causing terrorism.

7. Poverty

Many people in the world live in poverty. They don't have money to buy food, water or to buy a roof over their head. These people easily die of infections since they don't have access to medicine and doctors or they simply can not pay for them. In some parts of the world they die of hunger and lack of clean water. Poverty is one of the reasons of world hunger.

Solution: Creating more jobs and making the education more easily obtainable all help to reduce the poverty of that country. 

8. Energy.

There are many ways to get energy but none of them are 100%  clean and the more effective one are not clean at all. The vast amount of nuclear energy there is bad because of the amount of nuclear waste that is created. The other forms of energy are not as efficient as nuclear energy but slowly we are heading over to the direction of clean sources of energy.

Solution: Putting more money and time into research to find a clean, green, and efficient source of energy.

9. Over Population.

Humans have been reproducing at an astonishing rate in the past decades. The more humans there are the more resources we consume and the faster we kill ourselves by destroying nature. Also with more people there will be more conflicts which might lead to wars or terrorism.

Solution: Regulation into the amount of babies people can conceive is one the only peaceful solution, in which people are not killed or harmed, I could think of.

10. WMDs.

Weapons of Mass Destruction are a problem since they can easily destroy necessary resources and kill humans. Nuclear weapons fall into this category. Many countries have their nuclear weapons and many more are beginning to make their own, which is dangerous for both humans and for Earth.

Solution: If we can eliminate war there would be no reasons to have weapons of mass destruction but unfortunately we can not simply dispose of these weapons. 

Week 2 Reading Reflection

I think that the biggest surprise for me from the reading was the term of Gazelles especially since I did a study abroad in Ireland and the focus was entrepreneurship but I never heard of the term, but I liked it and it is interesting how impressive the business the businesses that are Gazelles are.

One part that was confusing is how the author says some contradictions in which he says that entrepreneurs organize, manage and assume risks but he also says that entrepreneurs take risks beyond security and as I came to understand this is that they both calculate risks and take huge risks. To me those two do not go together because once you calculate a risk you might become afraid of it so it is better to just take the risks without calculating them.

I think the author was wrong in the part that the he says that small business owners and entrepreneurs are different but I believe that small business owners can also be entrepreneurs and many actually are. I am not saying that every small business owner is an entrepreneur but they are more closely related to each other than them being different.

The two questions I would ask the author would be:

1. How did he came up with his definition of an entrepreneur? Out of the many people I have talked about entrepreneurship, they all have a different idea and definition of what an entrepreneur is, so I would like to know how he came up with his definition.

2. How many of the start-ups actually become large corporations or business? (I am not sure if I missed this when reading) 

My Bug List

Here is the list of things that bug me:

1. At random times the internet in my apartment drops suddenly and I feel like it happens more while I am watching Netflix or video on YouTube.

Why: Because I get annoyed by slow and laggy internet.

2. There are only 2 buses for the route I take on Sundays, so I usually have to wait a while for one of them to arrive and it takes forever.

Why: Because I feel like I waste too much waiting for the bus and then time taking the bus.

3. When you buy avocados that are not mature and you leave them out, so that they mature and are ready to eat the next day, but you forget one day later but they go bad.

Why: Because I like to make guacamole to make either my lunch or dinner tastier.

4. When I go to a friend's house but he/she is not there and then they don't answer their phone or their text messages.

Why: Because I get bored when waiting for people who might not come.

5. Bagel and Noddles has a 10$ minimum for credit cards and my meals usually cost less than 10$ there, but I don't usually carry cash.

Why: Because I don't carry cash and use my credit card to pay for most things.

6. When the people living around me start to what seems to me running around loudly and it is late at night.

Why: Because I can not either sleep or just relax because of the loud noises.

7. After it rains and the ground is wet, and I go either skateboarding or long boarding but the wheel hydroplane and I fall.

Why: Because I do not like to fall, it hurts.

8. How windows 10 crashes sometimes on my desktop and I have to restart it like 3 times.

Why: Because it usually takes like 5 minutes to get it working again and I could have used that time for something else.

9. When the day is sunny when I leave my apartment but then suddenly as I walk to class it starts pouring.

Why: Because I do not like getting wet when using casual clothes.

10. Coding a program and the code does not work, but you can not find where the problem is.

Why: Because I takes a lot of time to find the problem and when you do, you feel stupid.

11. Programming in C++ and missing a coma at the end of a line but not realizing it, so your code does not work.

Why: Because it is such a small thing but it can create many problems.

12. Ants in general, but especially when I am just working in my desk and an ant appears out of nowhere and climbs into my keyboard.

Why: Because I hate ants.

13. Netflix has different shows in different countries, so I can't see the shows I like when I travel.

Why: Because I travel to Guatemala often since I have family there but I can not see the shows I like in my free time since they do not show them.

14. The break that TV shows have for the holidays that last for more than a month.

Why: Because I would like to know what will happen next in the shows and I do not want to wait so long to know.

15. When my roommates have a few friends over and I am sitting in the living room, but I don't know any of his friends.

Why: Because it gets very awkward and then I end up going to my room instead of enjoying the living room.

16. Video games in which when you die you loose all of your items and never get them back.

Why: Because sometimes you have really good items, which took you some time to obtain.

17. When you finish watching a show and the last episode does not end correctly and you end the show confused.

Why: Because I like ending shows with full clarity of what happened and why.

18. When I misplace my keys and have to turn my room inside out to find them.

Why: Because I make a mess and then I have to clean it.

19. People that do not respect the ideas and beliefs of other people around them.

Why: Because they should respect everyone's beliefs and ideas even if they don't agree with them.

20. I have long so hair, so it bugs me when there is wind as I walk somewhere and the hair gets in my eyes so I can not see where I am going.

Why: Because I can't see what is in front of me and I like to see but I like my hair long.

Reflection: Finding what bugs me was not as hard as I thought it would be but it still took a considerate amount of time to do and at the end it was beginning to become difficult to think back and find what bugs me.

My Entrepreneurship Story

   About a year and some months ago I went to Ireland on a fall connection program for IA students at UF. Around the end of the Ireland trip I got to meet two girls who had made their own business called Improper Butter. These girls (Hannah and Elaine) told me and my group about their business, how it came to be and how they made it happen.

   Improper Butter makes flavored butter which is natural and clean. They got the idea for Improper Butter after Elaine went on a trip to France to cook and while she was there she spices into the butter to make it more flavorful. Since they were best friends form college, once her trip was over she talked to Hannah about the butters and to help her market it, and Improper Butter was born.

   They worked hard afterwards and putting all the money they had into this business. I remember them telling us how they barely had any money to do anything they wanted to do, but their business was doing better than what they expect and it is still now becoming more know in Ireland. They also told us how they went on Dragons' Den and got offered money but they decided to turn it down. One of the things that learned from them is that is you want to be successful you have to be willing to take risks and makes sacrifices and to never give up, because you will fail in one way or another.
   After they shared with us their stories they let us try their flavored butter (which was amazing) and then we had the opportunity to ask them individual questions. I learned many things from them about entrepreneurship and I am glad I had the opportunity to hear them speak.

  I enrolled in this course as it is necessary for my Innovation minor and also because I am interested in furthering my knowledge in what entrepreneurship is. What I hope to get from this course is knowledge and insight in how to become a successful entrepreneur.

My Introduction

I am Christian Van Sickle and this is my introduction. I was born on August 3rd, 1996 in Guatemala City. I lived in Guatemala for about 15 years before I moved to Weston, Florida. Growing up in Guatemala, a Spanish speaking country, required me to be fluent in Spanish. I was however also practically fluent in English thanks to my dad, who was born in Ohio and insisted that my sisters and I speak English just as well as we could speak Spanish. We had to talk to my dad strictly in English and my mom in Spanish.  If we spoke the wrong language to either one of them, they would act as if they didn't know what we said (even though they are both bilingual in Spanish and English). Living in Guatemala also taught to me to appreciate many things that a lot of people take for granted.

I moved to Weston, Florida when I was 15 years old. I started half way through the school year since Guatemalan schools have a different academic year compared to American schools. In Guatemala school runs from January to September instead of August to May like in America. I started half way through sophomore year and school was a lot tougher than what I expected it to be. It wasn't tougher academically but I had a hard time making friends in high school. After a few months I finally made a friend and then everything started to get better. I joined the robotics club with my friend and made more friends there. By the time graduation came I had memories and friendships worth their weight in gold. But just as Robert Frost said in a poem, "nothing gold can stay" and I closed one chapter of my life and turned the page to a brand new exciting chapter.

Through the Innovation Academy at the University of Florida, I had the chance to go to Ireland as a fall connection program for IA students. Being on a plane heading to a country which you know absolutely nothing about and no one absolutely no one there, is something very exciting and thrilling that I recommend everyone do.  I arrived in Ireland, my heart beating rapidly, excited to see the other people who had also decided to take this trip but unknowing that what was to come would be the best time of my life. There are too many stories from this trip to tell them here but I made many friends of which many I still hang out with as much as I can and I got to see the beauty of Ireland, someday I will go back to enjoy it once more. 

 After returning from Ireland I had a few months where all I did was wait until school started, so that I could see everyone. Time came to move to Gainesville, Florida and start college. The first year I lived on campus in a hall called Beaty Towers. I had many adventures with the people that lived there. My first year was very exciting and memorable. Starting my sophomore year I have moved off of campus in an apartment complex called Pavilion on 62nd and this where this story catches up with my real life. Currently majoring in Computer Science, still having adventures and hoping that the fun never ends but nothing gold can stay, so I will enjoy everything while it lasts, and hope the next chapter is even better than the last.

The Entrepreneur's Mantra

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