My Business: InstaTech

This was our first and only Action Project for our course: Social Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is our third and final STEAM course this year, and I have to say it's been one of the most challenging. In our first Unit, The Clearing, we explored our different passions and skills, and discovered multiple new things about ourselves. In our second Unit, The Entrepreneur, we paid attention to our passions, and used the to advantage when creating our own businesses. We also learned different business concepts and the right ways to create one. In Unit 3, The Business Case, we learned about everything that we needed and that was necessary to create a business. We went over multiple different skills and steps we needed to take to create a successful company. Our final unit, The Pitch, was mostly filled with practice and feedback on our pitches for our businesses. We also took action and created videos on our pitch. Overall, I really enjoyed this Action Project, although we were a little presses for time on this one, and I think mine could have been a lot better if we'd had more time in class to work on it. This final unit was also filled with a lot of guest speakers, who gave the class a ton of insight onto how their non-profits work. This course was very rewards, not only did I find things out about myself, but I learned a ton of new things about business and entrepreneurship. Hope you enjoy!

 

Helping 100,000 Families

SC's Survival Guide:
How to Help

What?

My mission is to help feed 100,000 underprivileged families. I’m hoping to pursue my mission in Africa. I want to do this because my brother comes from Africa, and listening and learning about all the different ways he had to live before we adopted him really made me want to do something. There are lots of people in Africa who can’t afford to eat as much as I should, and I want to make it my duty to help them get the food and nutrients they need. Right now, I mainly take advantage of the food that I get to eat everyday, and I want to become someone who gives back to the universe.

Lay of the Land

Malnutrition and hunger are serious issues on the African continent, not including the lower statistic of over 400,000 people dying due to “nutritional deficiencies” It is really unacceptable. But to combat hunger and malnutrition, aid organisations and governments need accurate data to start gathering everything they need to provide what they need. In fact, an average of 12 people die every minute in Africa due to hunger, resulting in a total of 6.7 million people per year. Africa’s population has been increasing rapidly as well, growing from 221 million in 1950 to 1 billion in 2009. Africa, the world’s poorest continent, has the highest population growth rate, which is one of the biggest reasons I need to help make a change.

Africa also has serious environmental challenges, including desertification, deforestation, and most importantly drought and water shortages, which increases hunger by reducing agricultural production and people’s incomes. The majority of these challenges have been created by humans; the environment can be said to be over exploited. Deforestation, for example, has been caused by humans seeking new places to live, farm, or obtain firewood. Drought, water shortage and desertification in Africa all reduce agricultural productivity leading to less food availability.

One person that I can learn a lot from is Richard Proudfit. Richard’s passion to help with feeding the starving children of the world began in 1974 in Honduras after Hurricane Fifi killed or left homeless thousands. He went there as an engineer with a medical relief team to help the survivors of that disaster. At first, Richard was so busy with his engineering and repair work that he did not notice all of the misery all around him, and then something happened that changed his life forever. He recalls that time, “It wasn’t long until I began to see the children - literally dying around us. One mother came to me crying, carrying her near dead child, pleading for help. That is when the Lord broke my heart and brought me to my knees and I knew that I had to come back to do something about it.” After this, Richard went on to create an organization to help starving children and their families. He is now the founder of “Kids Against Hunger” and “Feed my Starving Children.”

Timeline

• July 2020 - Begin working with a non-profit organization
• January 2021 - Work my way up the ladder in the business, and create my own project
• August 2021 - Start recruiting volunteers and others for the project
• February 2022 - Organize and get everything ready for the trip to Africa 
• May 2022 - Travel to Bujumbura and begin working
• November 2022 - Feed 10,000 people
• June 2023 - Feed 50,000 people
• December 2023 - Feed 100,000+ people
• March 2024 - Recruit volunteers from the city to maintain employment and food supply
• September 2024 - Leave project and move to a different location

Resources/Materials

The cost per month is around $200 for a single apartment in Bujumbura. Assuming that I’ll need around 30 people for the project, i’ll multiply the amount of apartments we need by thirty. We’ll also need tools and supplies throughout the project. In addition to our property and supplies, we’ll also need to cover other living expenses and salaries of our workers.

$6,000 - Rent
$10,000 - Supplies
$2,000 - Tools
$50,000 - Salary + Living Expenses

Total: $68,000

Non-negotiable

While putting everything together, it started to hit me how big and complex this project is going to be. I understand that I have to have limitations on how far i’ll go to complete it, but it’s hard to say what they are without them actually happening. Realistically, I will probably have to sacrifice a lot more of my time than what’s planned, because many projects like mine last longer than they’re supposed to, and I’m okay with that. I will not settle for not being able to help at least 50,000 families. I know that there are around 500,000 people living in Bujumbura, and I won’t leave until I’ve helped a percentage of their population that’s at least in the double digits.

What if?

The worst possible case scenario would be if the project were to fail early on due to whatever reason. In that case I would have to look somewhere else to help. Instead of being the leader of a project I would probably have to sign up as a volunteer for one. I think that I’d still have the chance of making a difference, but it wouldn’t be as big of an impact on that families in Bujumbura. Through being a volunteer, I would do as much as I can to make a difference in the lives of the people in need. Although becoming a volunteer instead of a project leader wouldn’t be as rewarding, I definitely think I could still do a lot of good things, as long as I give it my best.

To get into specifics about my backup plan, Feed my Starving Children (an organization based here in Illinois) offers trips and retreats that volunteers can sign up for year round. Going on a trip with them is probably the safest backup plan that I can think of.

Inspiration

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.”
Steve Jobs

“Work hard for what you want because it won't come to you without a fight. You have to be strong and courageous and know that you can do anything you put your mind to. If somebody puts you down or criticizes you, just keep on believing in yourself and turn it into something positive.”
Leah Labelle

“Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It's about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates”
Robin S. Sharma

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”
Gail Devers

“Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching.”
Satchel Paige

Map

Here’s the map of the capital that I plan to set up the project in
The population is about 500,000 people

Advice to Others

If you want to start making a change, my advice to get started is to begin with some community service hours. It genuinely doesn’t matter what you’re going for. Start out with something that you like; maybe it’s helping out at a shelter if you’re passionate for animals, or working at a soup kitchen to help feed the homeless. Whatever it is, as long as you’re putting yourself out there, you’re making a change in other people’s lives for the better. After you’ve gotten the hang of volunteering, then you can start expanding your horizons, and maybe start a project like mine. Just keep in mind, start small, finish big.

Works Cited
"Richard Proudfit - The Man Who Started It All." Our Founder. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 June 2017.

"Africa Hunger Facts, Africa Poverty Facts." World Hunger News. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2017.

Google Maps. Google, n.d. Web. 01 June 2017.

"Cost of Living in Bujumbura, Burundi. Mar 2017 Prices in Bujumbura." Expatistan, Cost of Living Comparisons. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2017.

Rummage Sale Fun

For a few weeks in the month of April, I decided to spend my community service hours helping a nearby church with their annual rummage sale. I found them through an ad on craigslist needed for volunteers at Northwest Suburban's largest sale. It seemed like a big task at first, but I thought it was the right was to spend my time. I really enjoyed working with the members of the church and other volunteers there. Everyone was so nice and helpful. The first day of training, I was taught where everything in the church was being organized, and introduced to every department head. For the first week, we mostly spent our time arranging all the items that we had and setting up the departments. The second week we spent most of our time organizing the departments and pricing items so they're ready for the sale. During the last week, I was able to get early access to the sale, and buy some things before the public could. I bought a really nice monitor someone had donated, and a desk chair. After the sale went on, as chaotic as it was, we had to start cleaning up. We spent the last few days cleaning and bagging the leftover things for donation. You wouldn't believe the amount of clothes that we had leftover. Overall, it was a really great experience to be able to spend my time working with this church. I made a lot of friends with the other volunteers and felt like I genuinely made an impact on the sale. I now hope to do more community hours over the summer, too!

Main Hall, SC, 2017

Endurance: Vlog

This Action Project is for the second Unit of my Endurance course, Katabasis. For this project, we were asked to choose a mission that we're passionate about completing. Katabasis means to decend, which is what we were meant to do with our mission. Throughout the course and making of our action project, we utilized the book Dante's Inferno as a resouce by observing the hero's journey and Dante's mission. For my mission, I chose to try to think more creatively. At first, I didn't expect much of the Inferno novel, but as I started to complete my hours for my project, I found myself relating to Dante more than I thought. It was shocking to me how similar it was going on my journey. In the story, Dante's journey through hell is a lot more intense than my mission to find creativity, obviously, however there were many correspondances I found through endurance. Another topic that we covered in this unit was the journey of physical endurance. We learned about David Blaine, and his mission of completing some unimaginable tasks. After seeing what he had to go through, I became a bit intimidated by what he had to endure, and whether or not I was going to feel what he did. Luckily, I took the wimpy path, and didn't have to go without breathing or anything of the sort. However, even though I didn't witness the physical endurance David Blaine had to go through, I did find similarities between our missions. For this unit's action project, we were asked to complete 12 hours towards our mission. My goal was to start thinking creatively, mainly because I don't consider myself an artistic or imaginative person. I really enjoyed this project, as it allowed me to expand my horizons and think about things that would usually never come to mind. With the thoughts that came to my mind, I was able to create an art piece that I don't think I would've been able to before my hours of endurance. This past unit has been extremely interesting to me, and I'm excited for the next one. Hope you enjoy my Vlog!

Endurance: Autobiography

For the first unit of our humanities class, Endurance, our class learned about people’s past, and what mental and physical aspects made them who they are today. Our class also did some of our own endurance tests. For the first test we took, we were asked as a class to stay completely silent for 10 minutes straight. We were all surprisingly able to handle it well. Personally, I just slept for a solid seventy percent of it, and most of the other kids just waited it out. For our second test, we were each asked to hold an ice cube in our hand for 1 minute. The first time, there were a few people who weren’t able to hold the ice the entire 60 seconds because of the burn. However, the second try, everyone was able to get it right. For our third test, the class went on an Field Experience to a martial arts studio. I was unfortunately late to class this day, so I wasn’t able to go on the trip. But, I heard that they did some rigorous training exercises. For our AP, we were asked to describe a challenge that we had to face, but from the point of view of ourselves 50 years in the future. I really liked this AP because it gave me a chance to reflect on the challenges I’ve had in the past, but at the same time think about what my future will be like. Hope you enjoy the first chapter of my autobiography.

Family Camp, SC, 2011

Chapter One: Revolution

My name is Sam Cowell. I was born at Evanston hospital, and raised by my two parents in a small town named Glenview, Illinois. Ever since I was little, I’ve been a shy and reluctant person. I generally dislike talking with people and making friends, so I’ve always had a tough time being socially active in school. I was pretty lonely at home. Most of the time I’d just be on my computer or watching TV. My parents hated seeing me shut everyone out, so they decided it would be best to find someone to socialize with.

One night, my mom and I were watching the season finale of American Idol. We were really eager to find out who was going to win. During the middle of the show, they had a segment on a village in Africa, and how the families there barely have enough food and water to survive. I asked my mom if there was any way that we could help them, which is when she came up with the idea of adopting a sibling for me.

From my knowledge, my mom and dad talked it over for at least three months before coming to a final decision; once they came to a conclusion, they both sat me down and asked me “Do you want a little brother?” I was overwhelmed with the question. I didn’t even know what to say at first. After being in shock for a few seconds, I responded: “Of course!” I didn’t really know what to feel after that moment. I was so extremely excited to be getting a sibling. Someone to talk to, hang out with, and develop a relationship with. I was excited, but also nervous. I started to think about what it would be like to have to share the attention I get from my parents and all of my things. We started the adoption process in May of 2008, and began looking for adoption agencies in Nigeria, Africa. As months went by, I was anxious to move forward with the adoption. Over a year passed, and all I knew at the time was that progress was happening.

After I got out of school in 2009, my parents told me that proceeding with the adoption at this point was extremely unlikely, and that we’re going to have to wait a little while until we can change agencies. As disappointed as I was, I was okay with it; I understood that the process can be time consuming and stressful. My parents eventually decided that they had to switch countries in Africa. There were too many laws in Nigeria at the time that prevented us from going through with the adoption. As a family, we decided that we were going to adopt from Ethiopia.

My parents took about a month before choosing an agency to go through with. The next year, in 2010, we were asked to choose a kid for adoption. This was one of the biggest decisions we, as a family, were ever going to make, so we wanted to make sure we did it right. We went through thousands of kids, and it was really hard to find a right fit. After looking for a few weeks, we finally chose a 7 year old boy who goes by the name of Natenial Samuel. We chose him because of his middle name: Samuel.

As we started to prepare for our trip to Africa, we had to go get shots to prevent ourselves from getting any possible diseases that are common in the city we were going to. I had to get about 18 shots, which only made me more nervous. My mom and dad had also told me that it was going to take a little while before he was going to be able to get adjusted here. The entire way he lives his life was going to change. I tried my best to mentally prepare myself for the trip. Not only was it hard realizing that I was going to be in a different continent for an entire week (I had never even left the country), but coming home with a brand new sibling.

In early July we left and met our new member of our family. It was amazing being able to finally meet him. I introduced myself and so did my mom and dad. We tried to ease ourselves into the situation he was in, because it was a big deal for him to be moving out of the adoption place. He’d lived there for over a year. We came home from after and everything was going great for a few months. We renamed him to Nate, as Natenial wasn’t really as fitting in America. After a couple of months, Nate started to get anxiety over being with us. It was really difficult for him to adjust to America. He started to have panic attacks and meltdowns. It was really hard on my parents and myself.

Nate because the center of attention for a little while. It was a challenge for me to have to go from being in the spotlight to having no attention at all. My middle school years were hard for me. I was socially awkward, and had to take care of myself most of the time. Nate was only getting worse when he was with us. My parents told me that he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and has to follow through with a treatment process.

After a few months, we decided that it would be best if Nate went to a treatment center. It was too difficult for my parents to live with him because of his meltdowns, and they realized that I needed some awareness too. It was really hard to understand at first, but I eventually came to terms with him leaving. Over the next few years, we went back and forth of him going through programs to help get him treated, and he was finally able to come home. He was 10 when he was allowed to leave the treatment center, and I’m sure one of the happiest days of his life. My parents and I were so excited to finally have him home again, but without all the chaos.

I was thrilled to be able to finally develop a real relationship with him. We had always been close up to this point, but it was so hard to keep in touch while he was recovering. We became the best of friends, and still are to this day. Since the moment he came home, our relationship has gotten stronger each day. As I went through college, we would talk to each other almost every day, and stayed best friends all through those 4 years. During his college years, I would try to check in on him at least once a week, and make sure I told him everything he needed to know to succeed. At this point in time, we’re both in our forties and living our own lives. We both have our own families and are happy. We be sure to meet up at least once a month to catch up and hang out. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift than my brother. Through all the challenges and hardship my brother put my parents and I first when we first got him, I’m so happy that I was able to overcome those obstacles, because our relationship we have now is more of a reward than I ever could have asked for.

GCE Mixtape

For my elecetive term I decided to take Mixtapes, where I learned all about different musical elements and styles. Our class was taught about the multiple historical periods of music and what their meaning was. Also, we learned about how today's music differs from music in the past. We went on many different FEs in this class. On one, our class went to sit in and observe on a music theory class at Columbia College. There, we were taught by the professor about Bebop Jazz, and listened to some of the students' presentations. For our next FE, we went to the Stoney Island Arts Bank, where we learned about its history and how it grew in Chicago. For our last FE, we went to the Electrical Audio Studios, where all of us got to look at a real recording studio. We also were taken inside the rooms where they record music. We were given the oppurtunity to play the instruments used by the bands and artists that record there. For our Action Project, we were asked to pick out 5 different songs to put together a playlist for the Pitchfork Music Festival and explain the reasoning behind your choices. I found this AP to be really fun, because I was given a lot of flexibility with what I was able to pick. I just wish that we were given some more time in class to complete them. Overall, it was an amazing experience being in the class and I got a lot out of it. I hope you enjoy my choices!

1. Galantis & Hook N Sling - Love On Me
2. Fitz and The Tantrums - HandClap
3. 여자친구 - 시간을 달려서
4. Caravan Palace - Black Betty
5. Lost Kings - Bad

GCE: Scheduling

For Unit 3 of Systems and Models, we learned the ins and outs of how a company works, and the different methods and process industries to achieve efficiency. We went into depth about The acomlons, which are public resources that are shared but not regulated. In addition, we looked at different situational environments and what factors can affect the productivity of a company. For our FE our class spoke with the creator of our school, Eric Davis, and asked him questions about the obstacles he faced when building the school. For this unit's Action Project, we were asked to take a system within the school and explain it through SWOT. While explaining through SWOT we also had to relate it to different business models that companies today use. After this, we were assigned to figure out a solution to this problem, and write out what we think would make it better. I chose to discuss GCE's scheduling. I thought this would be an interesting topic to cover because it affects everyone in the school. Also, I really wanted to give my input on what could be done to improve the schedule for everyone. Enjoy!