Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting to partake in an entrepreneurial adventure for the past semester, but it was interesting to delve into the state of media and learn from other startups.

I really enjoyed listening to How I Built This podcasts, especially with Whitney Wolfe, founder of Bumble, and Carley Roney and David Liu, founders of The Knot.

Hearing about their failures, trials and tribulations helped keep things in perspective when I was feeling overwhelmed, both by class and other problems any 22-year-old faces in life. I remembered I didn’t have the livelihoods of several families depending on my company or idea, which made my stresses seem a little less daunting.

My favorite aspect of this semester, though, was hearing from entrepreneurs and self-starters like Peter Shankman, a brutally honest businessman who took what many perceived as a disadvantage and leveraged what made him unique into a business.

I also really enjoyed taking a trip to Detroit to visit with self-starters like Shanley Pearl, AKA @hungryindetroit. She spoke to us about social and leveraging our experiences to get further ahead, along with understanding our value and what we bring to the table. I felt empowered after hearing what she had to say, and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to learn more from her and the other people we spoke with that day.

I expect to take the entrepreneurial ideas I’ve learned about and apply them to the next role I find myself in. I believe the grittiness that’s required of successful entrepreneurs is something that everyone could use a little more of, and maintaining that mindset will only prove helpful as I enter post-graduate life. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to get a better understanding of what it means to be an entrepreneur, and I’ve learned it is certainly not for the faint of heart.