14A - Halfway Reflection

1) Some behaviors I have developed over the years, or learned to develop, are time management and keeping a schedule of things to do and when to do them whether it's written down or on my phone or somewhere to keep me on top of things. This was something I struggled with (still sometimes struggle with), throughout my time here at UF. People would say procrastination really is your worst enemy and I can attest that it truly became mine when I became one of the last-minute studiers and doers for some of the classes I've taken before and yet, always regretted it and admitted I could have handled and managed my time a lot better. Keeping a schedule and keeping myself accountable on that schedule, definitely helps with time management and helps get all the assignments done in time and studying done and not have to worry about it the night before.

2) Particularly with online classes, I think management gets a little trickier, personally. In an online class, you don't have to worry about getting up a specific time and printing out your 12 page paper to turn in in class by Monday morning, instead you have your due dates but you are free to make that time schedule yourself and work things around so that you are able to do whatever else you do during your day, while still getting your work done online. There is not as much pressure in online classes as in physical on campus classes, or so that's what they say. I find it to be quite the opposite. I think with a physical class, I rely on the schedule made for me and feel more responsible getting up in the morning and attending a class but taking it online creates a whole other level of lazy and that is something I'm admitting to have experienced after having taken a few online classes before and not been as consistent as I should have been in the class.

3) Tips I'd offer to next semester's student is to (1) create your own schedule and (2) stick to it. I think step number two is the hardest part of taking online classes like this one. It takes more than just writing down a schedule on your planner or reminders on your phone, but you have to keep yourself accountable. The third tip (3) I'd offer helps foster the tenacious mindset and that is to develop a system that will make it more likely that you finish your assignments. If you do end up having a lot of work to do accumulated, whether it's this entrepreneurship class or your Chem 2 class, I'd say doing your work and studying with small breaks in between can be very rewarding and ultimately make your more productive. One thing I've learned to do and found pretty effective is, if I have a long paper due or readings or what not, is to separate the work in chunks and add timed breaks in between. Something I like to do is do 30 minutes of work with 10 minute breaks in between to get a snack or listen to music or whatever tickles your fancy. It's effective if you stay consistent and don't give yourself more break time at once (you'll be likely to accidentally take an hour long break and never get back to work). Some people have a difficult time remaining concentrated and need spurts of breaks in between their work like this to keep them going, while others can work long hours on end without stop and that's fine too. Everyone learns and studies differently and at different paces, it's up to you to figure out what works for you and what doesn't. But don't stress, you'll do great.

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No.1

Interview #1: DS

• (initials) DS: I interviewed a mother of a 9 year old child with Autism Spectrum Disorder
• In the interview she expressed that her need is most salient when neither her nor her husband are able to be home in the evening hours and they need someone to watch their child.
• When: Weekday evenings
• How: No one available to stay with child while she teaches class in the evenings
• Where: Home
• I found out that the first thing she looked for when she encountered her unmet need is online babysitting services like Care.com and sittercity.r
• Her search terms are someone who has prior experience caring for individuals with ASD

Interview #2: RG

• In this interview, the parent I spoke with had a similar unmet need of caregiving services for her child on the spectrum but had a different issue in searching for it as well.
• Her issue lied in the area she lived in. She claimed she knew of resources that were out there but did not know how to get them because of how far she was from the central area.
• Her search terms were someone with reliable transportation, willing to make the effort to get to where she was and care for her toddler child while she worked during the day.

Interview #3: BS

• In my last interview, this parent was one of the families that was also looking for caregiving services but also tutoring services for her 11 year old with ASD. 
• Her search terms for this was a bit more strict as she looks for not only a caregiver but someone with background in education and that may have skills in teaching the kind of population.

11A - Idea Napkin No.1

(Update: For those of you who have read my previous posts, I have changed my business venture from dealing with disabilities in the workplace to creating caregiving resources for the ASD population; please read ahead) :)

1) Who am I? A brief intro to me

• Growing up, I was always fascinated and interested in the population of the world no one else seemed to understand. Being brought up with a sibling with disabilities, I was always wondering what I could do to understand him and always wanted to know more. As a 4th year in college, I can finally say, I've gotten closer to reaching a personal career goal in working with kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Currently working as a Registered Behavior Technician for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, I provide direct ABA therapy and engage with these kids on a daily basis and I've never loved doing something, more. I learn so much more from them, than I teach them. My aspiration with this business idea is making it a resource every needing parent of a child on the spectrum can rely on and can feel safe and secure and relaxed knowing they're not alone and there are people out there to understand them and advocate for their kids.

2) Here's what I'm offering: Allies 4 Autism

• After multiple conversations with parents of kids on the spectrum, almost always, they wish, there were more resources out there for their kids, whether it's finding a babysitter for the weekend that has knowledge on how to interact with kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or searching for an after-school program for their kids because they are single parents and work during the day and can't be there all the time, or simply, someone to offer them support and encouragement throughout the process and let them know, they're not in this alone.
• That's where Allies 4 Autism comes along.
• Allies 4 Autism would be a concoction of services and resources, all freely found on a singular app easily downloadable on all phones.
• Parents of kids with ASD and other related disabilities would be the primary users of this app and its resources.
• Access to available sitters and caregivers (all with previous experience caring for or providing clinical therapy to this population) in their area, support groups, ABA clinics, Autism awareness events, etc.

3) Who I'm offering to

• The target of these services would be more focused on families with members with ASD but more specifically, targeting often single-working parents who may not be able to be as present with their child who hence may need these kind of resources.

4) Why do they care? (Why wouldn't they?)

• Because I'm targeting parents, this specific population can be a little easier to persuade. Parents will always want the best for their children and will do whatever it takes to get that for them. Because I will be offering these resources to parents of children with ASD, they would be more willing to do something about it, because they are often feeling more pressure in their lives.
• The lack of resources out there NOW, make it all the more establishing to start something like this up and attract those who need it most.

5) Core Competencies

• What sets Allies 4 Autism apart from everyone else is that instead of it just being one particular service, the app itself would be built to connect the user to all resources available in the area from already existing therapy clinics and events but also connect them with registered therapists and experienced caregivers that might not have been available to them previously. For example, care.com, a caregiving service app, is an app where sitters find clients and parents find sitters. There is an special needs filter on the app however, Allies 4 Autism would be specifically tailored for this population and the caregivers would all have prior experience or knowledge of individuals on the spectrum. Interested students working in the behavior analysis field at the University of Florida for example, would be directed to this app to provide caregiving services through it to the families in the area.

I think the elements of this venture fit together pretty well. I think the aspect that could be weaker is comparing it to others similar. To my knowledge there are no current apps out there or local that target this audience and do it in a manner that combine multiple resources to make a type of guiding interface but that doesn't mean that the individual resources don't exist. The Center for Autism and Related Disabilities for example is a center partnered with the University of Florida that offer support groups and hold events for the Autism community but it may not be available to every one or as known to all. 

8A - Solving the Problem

The Solution?

On the opportunity that I chose, disabilities in the workplace, the solution I came up with is a service.

A service in which all employers, regardless of status or company achievement, partake in a type of training or course that educates them and trains them to deal with different types of people that could be employed there, including different ranges of individuals with disabilities.

This service would be mandatory in all workplaces and geared towards the employers, or all the individuals on the leadership level like department managers, hiring, and big bosses. 

What this training would entail is the different scenarios and cases that employers, and employees can come across with different individuals of different abilities. For example, training on how to interact with potential employees with Autism, education on what it means to be on the spectrum, and education to know that they have many individual capabilities and can actually bring a lot to the table at the work place. 

There is more to expand on this bus initially, this is how I plan to solve this gap between diverse populations and their employment in the workplace and how to teach acceptance and adjustability across all environments, as it should be in the work field. 

6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

Economic Trends

Opportunity #1: Increased automation - factories, cars, offices, homes

• (a) I found this opportunity on the website Global Change 
• https://www.globalchange.com/10-trends-that-will-dominate-our-future-all-predictable-changing-slowly-with-huge-impact.htm

• (b) I think this opportunity exists because less people, specifically in America, are seeking manual labor jobs, like construction or many hands-on/getting down and dirty jobs that don't necessarily need a bunch of degrees for and this creates an opportunity for automation to excel and have more introduced.

• (c) The prototypical customer here, or at least the people that would be "gaining" with this opportunity are corporations or "the big man" with the companies that create these automatic machines to be incorporated in the work field. I think, because a lot of Americans are now seeking to earn college and post-graduate degrees in desired career fields, this opens up the chance for automation to grow, but at the same time, these labor-type jobs are still necessary to employ the people that are actively looking for work and may not be qualified or have the degree to get higher-paying and more sturdy employment.

• (d) I think this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because we already are living in an automated world, we rely on these machines to wake us up in the morning (alarms) because we don't trust ourselves, we rely on these same machines to remind us of birthdays and our kid's soccer practice times because we no longer write things down or rely on our own memory. Because automation surrounds us today, I think it would not be hard for big companies to eventually replace factories, cars and homes as we know it, because we might not see it even if it's before our eyes.

•  Why? I think I saw this opportunity in this way because of the influence and experience I've had in my own life. Last semester, I was enrolled in a Minorities in American Society class that really opened my eyes to what's been going on in our country that we might think isn't on a daily basis and automation was one of those trends.

Opportunity #2: Huge growth in life expectancy in most nations

• (a) This was found on the same site was the first one.
• https://www.globalchange.com/10-trends-that-will-dominate-our-future-all-predictable-changing-slowly-with-huge-impact.htm

• (b) This exists because of the medical advances and technology that we're developing constantly. Life expectancy is said to be increasing by a year in every four years, according to the trends cited on the website.

• (c) The customer in this opportunity is all of us, but really millennials and the generation that follow after, as they would be the ones who live to older ages.

• (d) I think because of the advancements we are making medically and health wise, this might be easier to exploit.

• Why? I think most people would see this opportunity in a similar as me, but although medical advancements are for the most part seen in a positive light, there may be a counter-argument out there that suggests a lot of these technological advancements are becoming un-natural and could potentially have risks and side effects to them.

Regulatory Trends

Opportunity #3: Workplace Diversity and Inclusion in the years to come

• (a) I found this on a 2019 forecast of disability related trends
• https://riskandinsurance.com/2019-forecasts-for-absence-and-disability/

• (b) I think this exists because of the current lack of inclusivity in the workplace among people with different skill sets and abilities; many people with disabilities (of any kind) have a difficult time getting hired for jobs or keeping jobs because of their limited skill sets and it is hoped to be improved in the near future. 

• (c) The customers who would benefit from this opportunity would be the currently employed or potential employees with disabilities (whatever they may be), who would be able to apply their own individual knowledge and diverse skill set and bring it to the table at that work place. 

• (d) I think this opportunity would be relatively difficult to exploit because many company owners and employers although would like to expand their companies and include a more diverse community, on the surface level, there are biases, assumptions and discriminations made by these employers that can't always be blamed because they may be ignorant on how to handle or interact with individuals with disabilities but also, should open up their mindset into learning more about this population and what they may need from their employers as well as the unique and individualized skills they can provide to the company.

• Why? I feel that this opportunity hits close to home for me. As someone who has experience and works with individuals with disabilities daily as a career as a behavior therapist for individuals with autism, it's easy for me to confront this opportunity and apply the perspective on the disabilities side of it. Others who may not have as much knowledge or experience with this population may not understand why this opportunity is one, or why it should be, but may offer a different perspective that I may not have.

Opportunity #4: Regulatory Trends in Privacy and Cybersecurity 2019

• (a) Found this here:
• https://blog.procircular.com/regulatory-trends-in-privacy-and-cybersecurity-2019

• (b)  I think this exists because the ironically increasing lack of privacy on the individual level of citizens in the United States. An excerpt from this article struck out to me, where it compared the privacy regulations of the United States and Europe. The U.S enforces privacy regulations and security of it's own federal government and businesses but when it comes to the citizen's privacy, the U.S lacks to secure it as much as Europe manages to secure the privacy and rights of their citizens. Simply put, the U.S prioritizes it's government and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance privacy over their own people.

• (c) Every individual with a right to privacy and possessing personal information.

• (d) There are groups out there working to protect the privacy rights of the individuals and citizens of this country so that a, as it was phrased in the blog, "Privacy Apocalypse" doesn't occur and we can only be optimistic that it will improve.

• Why? Often times, this issue is not put out there and many people believe that our privacy is just that, OURS. But it is hard for me to be convinced that our personal information is not out there being exploited when cases of breach of privacy are constantly occurring, not to mention lawsuits coming out with companies like Facebook and others that initially claim (to their consumers) to be with-holding consumer personal information for no one to see but can actually be reached.

5A - Identifying Local Opportunities

Opportunity #1:
UF Resident Assistant Charged with Battery Released as 'High-Achieving' Student Leader

• https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-resident-assistant-charged-with-battery-released-as-high-achieving/article_22218abc-d2bc-11e9-b6c8-576af09c51cc.html
•  A 'high-achieving' male student gets away with repeatedly bothering a female student, requesting sexual favors and following her to her dorm room, despite the many refusals he is getting from her. Because he is in an honor society, is teacher's assistant and claims to have "a lot of student work to do", Milaski's charges of battery and sexual assault were dropped.
• The problem in this story has to do with the lack of listening skills in some people as well as the problem we have in court today. The assault took place. The victim was affected. And the perpetrator was released and dropped of his charges all because of his status. This is not the way things should be handled in court, this just spirals and leads to even bigger problems. Would it be okay for a person of power and in high social and economic status to have committed assault and battery only because of the position he is in and the things he has previously accomplished? 
• I think the court system and the way things are decided in today's age (and for some time) is the problem. I think the system fails to recognize the real issues in these cases and overlook the victim's story because the perpetrator "has done so well" in his life prior to the incident. Anyone can be high-achieving and still have ill-intentions, and commit crimes. That is where our focus needs to be, not brushing off incidents like these and prevent change from happening.

Opportunity #2:

UF Student Reported She was Raped in Jennings Hall

• https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-student-reported-she-was-raped-in-jennings-hall-upd/article_03622c12-d41f-11e9-9b96-9fab926c54c5.html
• A female student reported she was raped in Jennings Hall and did not want to disclose any more information because the perpetrator was someone she was in a personal relationship with.
• I think the problem in this story has to do with lack of detailed reporting. The more information the UFPD has of the incident and of the perpetrator, the easier the process would be. Not knowing what happened in this incident, I do know a lot of cases like these usually happen among people who know each other and do habe relations with one another, but because of that, it is easy to not know how to handle the situation, the victim may be making excuses for the perpetrator because they knew each other well or may be afraid of what may come of it.
• The first problem lies within preventing these things from actually happening. The UFPD advises students to not walk alone at night or remain in lit and public places where others are around, but even then, this occurred in a dormitory, where supervision is not always in place and difficult to keep. The other problem is how the incident is handled.

Opportunity #3:

Students and Activists Make Posters Ahead of Blue Light Protest on Fraternity Row

• https://www.alligator.org/news/students-and-activists-make-posters-ahead-of-blue-light-protest/article_6c882e9c-d4e9-11e9-a8c9-83afa3c1f69c.html
• This protest is led due to the lack of blue light emergency lights on Fraternity Row. Students and activists make posters to use in a protest to move these blue lights to Fraternity Row.
• The problem seems to be the lack of blue emergency lights on Fraternity Row. These lights were created for emergency purposes and are scattered all around campus but seem to be missing here. The absence of these lights leave students that live or hang around fraternity row often, feel unsafe, especially considering the number of reported assaults on campus lately and the saddened culture of fraternities. Although I think blue lights are important in making us feel safe and like we can be helped in case of anything, I think the real problem lies with the actual incidents and the fact that we should be afraid and constantly on edge that something might happen to us, in the first place.
• Fraternity Row has the problem however, UF and the city have to deal with this problem.

Opportunity #4:

City Commission Repeals Plastic Ban, Raises GRU Rates

• https://www.alligator.org/news/city-commission-repeals-plastic-ban-raises-gru-rates/article_cbb76770-d5e3-11e9-9a5e-2fe54a48b3cd.html
• The city commission is overturning its efforts on banning Styrofoam and single use plastic bags while GRU bills go up. In this story, a woman explains how even having her AC off for a month, her GRU bill still reached $250 living in a studio apartment.
• The problem lies within the city commission and its efforts to repeal the plastic ban but also the insane GRU rates. 
• The residents of Gainesville are the ones who feel the burdens of this problem because GRU rates are so high, it becomes difficult to make ends meet to pay them.

Opportunity #5:

No More Mango: Trump Administration to Propose Ban on E-Cigarette Flavors

• https://www.alligator.org/news/no-more-mango-trump-administration-to-propose-ban-of-e/article_0a061ac4-d4dd-11e9-bcd5-87d4340fabf1.html
• Underage vaping is the reason for this ban. After a sixth person died in the U.S Wednesday from vaping, Trump proposes to ban popular vaping flavors like mango, strawberry and mint.
• The problem lies within the vaping community, which has lost six people to vape-related issues. Although there is controversy on whether this ban will be doing the people more harm than good. 
• The vapers have the problem. An employee of a Vape company stated that this ban would only drive the users to smoke cigarettes again which would be just as harmful.

3A- My Entrepreneurship Story

My Entrepreneurship Story:

Growing up from an immigrant family originally from the Dominican Republic, I was raised around a mother who practically was a member of a family of entrepreneurs in her household back on the island. Before she moved to the states, my mom was helping her sisters run a convenience store as well as a party and event rentals store they owned right off their house in their neighborhood, it seemed to be a family lineage of entrepreneurs. My mom would get called to work at the stores, sell street food, help arrange party favors, tailor a bridesmaid dress, do hair and makeup, or sell homemade ice cream popsicles all at a very young age.

Even though my mom moved here and created a different life for herself and for us as her children, she still brought us up with the little tips and tricks she learned back home. As a child growing up here in Florida, my mom and I used to really get into the baking scene, following tutorials, taking decorating classes at the local bakery and getting our hands dirty by making and baking whatever interesting goods we wanted to and share them with our family and friends in town. I'd bring homemade cake pops to school for my friends and sometimes sell them to others when they realized how good they were and slowly, creating, became a thing in our house. We made goodies all the way from Halloween biscuit witch fingers to Easter bunny candy pops. It was not only a start of a small business-like experience but a great bonding experience with my mom as well. We enjoyed the art of creating, even if it was making the simplest of things.

Exploring other DIY crafts to make, we looked into soap making and different kinds of nutrients and natural essences we can put into soap that could help those around us with skin issues, really just starting with ourselves (I thought I had terrible acne in middle school and wanted to find ways to solve this myself instead of spending hundreds on a product prescribed by a dermatologist made of chemicals no one's ever even heard of).

So we bought soap making books, invested in the making materials, essences, colors, natural ingredients and started making some soap. My mom did really well with this one oatmeal based soap in particular, shared it with some family and friends and it did wonders on our skin, she got great reviews from her peers. Although we mainly did what we did out of curiosity and for fun, if we really built it upwards, we probably could have made a real small business out of it. We tried packaging and gifting some of what we made but we never made labels or applied for a sales permit or made a name for our 'company'. It was just a couple of amateur crafters having fun and bonding over creating something pretty cool and useful. But, I guess, that's all you really need to start yourself up as an entrepreneur, isn't it?

I enrolled in ENT3003 because of my Innovation minor and I have previously taken this class before, but, I would like to say this class is definitely one I find a lot of interests in because I enjoy looking for new ways to solve problems around me and hope to be able to do more of that as I progress forward in this class and my career as a hopeful future entrepreneur.