“Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it” – Albert Einstein

“There is only one road to human greatness: through the school of hard knocks” – Albert Einstein

“For without struggle, there is no progress” – Frederick Douglas

With these three quotes, I have described our entire Entrepreneurship program. Instead of memorizing or simply regurgitating lectures and textbook business theories, students in our program have the opportunity to face the real business world in a hands-on, yet safe learning environment.

The real business world is tough. One must deal with many different types of individuals and situations, so learning to embrace uncomfortableness becomes imperative to success. This could mean overcoming the uneasiness of giving presentations to a panel of businessmen, approaching strangers, or simply making cold calls to sell your product or service.

Many of the things that you must learn in business are intangible and even more incomprehensive in texts. Often times, textbook examples do not impact students as effectively as hands-on experience in which students can directly apply business concepts and practices to a real-time problem. By introducing real problems in a university environment, students get to absorb all the benefits of struggling to learn without the financial or personal liability of being a business owner.

It is almost like a fast track route for students because the program allows them to gain tremendous experience in a condensed amount of time. With the professors and mentors putting the struggles into perspective, all the opposition that students face both internally and externally becomes valuable stories and learning experiences.

Every life and business lesson that students learn individually becomes planted as a seed in their minds. As students finish their business school process and enter the real world, they will be surprised to learn that the answers they came up with in class are also applicable to their personal business problems. The decision-making process that students learn in class will become second nature to them as they continue to apply those lessons outside of class. Essentially, these business decisions become a product of who they are and what they have learned and accomplished. Whereas those who did not gain the same learning experiences will not understand the decision-making process or perspectives used to come up with the appropriate solutions.

Another quote that comes to mind is the Proverbs written by King David, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” More so than knowing what to do, I believe the true value of the program derives from how we look at the world and what kind of person we should be if we want to become successful. The words “baring,” “passion,” “initiative,” “relentless,” and “resilience” all comes to mind when I look back on the pattern of stories that were shared as inspiration.

Professors and mentors provide valuable insight towards real world business problems. They are not here to interfere, but to help guide students to their own innovative and creative solutions. The network and exposure that Entrepreneur students learn from is truly an advantage over other business students. While our peers master their craft in finance, marketing or management, Entrepreneurs are mentored to become leaders among men in the cut throat arena of business. Our students are challenged to change their prior perspectives and redefine goals to learn exactly what it takes to become successful and how, such as learning to utilize resources or connecting with the right individuals.

Our program has ignited a learning revolution in which students tackle real problems that were originally believed to have no remedy. By applying the theories of leadership, management and communication, the entrepreneurs at Cal State Fullerton bring innovation and a real actionable solution for their clients.

If there was a business school with the sole goal of producing job makers and philanthropic leaders, it would be the Entrepreneurship program at Cal State Fullerton.

Many thanks to Mr. Lee for sharing this awesome testimonial of our program with us.

If you are interested in learning about how you can study Entrepreneurship like Sam please head on over to our website to learn what it takes to matriculate at CSUF.

On the other hand, if you have already completed your schooling and you are interested in aiding the development of student-entrepreneurs like Jennifer please get in touch with us by sending an email to csufentrepreneurship@fullerton.edu and we will be happy to explain how you can become a mentor in our classrooms, a guest speaker and how you can become a client of our Student-led Business Consulting Program, which provides our student-entrepreneurs with invaluable real-life experience and our clients with cutting-edge insights into how they can improve their business in a number of areas.