As part of our Global Learning requirements we have to take classes classified as Global Learning. My very first Global Learning class was an Honors College class called Global Social Entrepreneurship (Spring 2017-2018). The class was taught by Kate Sackman and the main topic was about developing business ideas that would tackle global problems.
Little did I know this class would change my life.
The final project of the class for the semester was competing in Hult Prize at FIU, a world-wide social entrepreneurship competition that challenges students every year to develop sustainable business ideas for pressing global issues. The year that I competed, the problem was around harnessing energy to change the lives of 1 million people by 2025 (big challenge right!?). My team and I decided to develop a device that would harness kinetic energy and would transform it into electrical energy, enough to power a battery that would provide energy to rural communities in African countries. To our surprise we won the FIU competition, which meant that we would be representing FIU at the Hult Prize competition at the Regional level in Boston against Universities like Harvard, MIT and UNC.
To be honest, we had absolutely no idea of what we were doing. But with the support of StartUP FIU, our mentors and professors, we were able to put together our pitch and present it in front of a panel of very tough judges. From this experience we learned that we needed a team to develop the device, which allowed us to connect with Engineering students that would help us to develop our prototype.
After months of cracking our heads into how to develop this project, we understood that we would not be able to well-developed if we did not have the expertise to do it. We decided to desist from the project, but the learning behind the whole experience allowed me to discover my passion for social entrepreneurship and the pursuit of a career in International Development.
Did you think that was the end?
No! I got so much out of the Hult Prize experience that I wanted for my peers to have the same experience. I applied as a Campus Director (CD) for the 2018-2019 Academic Year, which allowed me to organize our On-Campus competition. The year that I was CD I had the opportunity to work with students to motivate them to seek for solutions that would solve the youth unemployment crisis worldwide.
During the academic year and in preparation for the competition, I outreached to different student organizations, worked with different departments mainly with StartUP FIU. We organized different panel discussions around social entrepreneurship, workshops to prepare our students to compete and hosted our On-Campus competition where 20 student teams participated!
Definitely, Hult Prize was one of the best experiences in my student career and the one that opened me many doors for me!