Jrn 450 has forced me to think outside of what I thought I knew and explore some things I never thought of before. Marketing and entrepreneurship have never been strong suits of mine, and frankly going into the class I thought I was going to hate it. The business side of media had always been a huge turn off to me.

Coming up with my own idea for a startup was the beginning of my interest in the course. It was what initially got the wheels in my head turning about what today’s startup really needs to do to thrive.

The next big thought-provoker was when the groups were formed. I didn’t end up where I expected to be, but with Jerry and Hakeem, I felt like I was where I needed to be. It told me I needed to be more open minded toward opportunities that may not be on my radar otherwise.

Working in a group on a business-like product was enlightening because I got to see both Jerry and Hakeem’s strengths and weaknesses in a group setting, and react accordingly to make sure their strengths were being exploited in the work. It really gave me insights into management as well as working under a manager (Jerry).

Thinking about markets and audiences was another god exercise for me. These were things that rarely crossed my mind before this class, especially concerning news and media. I always thought that the business side of media was like a shadow hanging over the entire industry. I didn’t realize that it’s truly how the industry functions.

The really big thing was the trip to Detroit. Seeing all of those small business owners creating wonderful new shops in downtown Detroit gave me a lot of hope. I could feel the pride those people had in their contributions to their community, and it made me feel some pride myself. I have a goal in my head to be a part of Detroit’s comeback in the near future, and it’s all thanks to those people, and Amy for making the trip happen.

I’ve grown a lot from the beginning of this semester and this class was a big part of making that happen. I feel that this was a good class to take in m final semester of school, as it put me in the shoes of somebody collaborating with others on a business project. The class was a true pleasure for me and many others.