All Innovation, Creativity & Entrepreneurship students are required to participate in one Connecting Experience as part of their BDP certificate. Read on for additional information and resources.
Spotlight
Past Connecting Experiences
Connecting Experiences Spotlight
Laura Herring
Major: Radio-Television-Film
Type of Experience: Internship, Cheeky Foods Group
Mentor: Patrick Franklyn, Arcadia University
How did you find out about your study abroad program?
I received an email through my BDP advisor about a study abroad info session for summer 2011. I hadn’t planned on doing study abroad but I decided to go anyway. I think my exact thoughts were, “Only if they have a six-week internship program in Australia will I consider it.”
How did you find out about this internship?
While the advisors were going through different programs, an internship program for six weeks in Australia popped up in the search box. My heart was instantly set on going.
What was it like interning abroad?
Interning abroad really had an impact on my perspective in life. Being exposed to different people in a different land really opened my eyes to a world of opportunities and possibilities that I wasn’t aware of before. This experience has really expanded me in so many ways: the way I think, the way I live, and perhaps most importantly—the way I dream.
Describe your internship and your interest in the subject area.
I’m a film major, but I wanted to try my hand at another type of entrepreneurial business. I ended up with the Cheeky Food Group in Sydney, started by a female entrepreneur with the idea of hosting team cooking events as a way of team building for corporate teams and their clients. I filmed and edited several short promotional videos for the company.
How did this experience connect to your BDP?
As a student in the BDP for Innovation, Creativity & Entrepreneurship I found myself applying all of these elements to my experience. Creativity is inherently a part of film. Working with an innovative company, with innovative film technology, I had a strong sense that I was on the cutting edge of doing business. Perhaps most rewarding was acting as my own film entrepreneur, responsible for my own resources in producing quality film for an established company.
In what ways has this Connecting Experience shaped your plans for the future?
Because of this experience I feel qualified to define a very real goal for my future and use it as a way to focus the remaining year of my studies here at UT. Thinking about every step I’ve taken that has gotten me this far, I can only believe all the more in myself and my abilities to achieve what I dream.
Past Innovation, Creativity & Entrepreneurship Connecting Experiences
There is no “list” of possible Connecting Experiences to choose from—because Connecting Experiences are designed to fit your own personal interests and goals, the “list” is as long as your imagination and creativity allow. With that in mind, students in the Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship BDP might pursue an internship with a commercial or non-profit organization engaged in entrepreneurial ventures, participate in a faculty-led research project, design an independent research project, or develop a project for competitions such as the Idea to Product Competition or the Social Innovation Competition.
Past Internship Placements
- ACL Live
- Caplan Miller Events
- Cheeky Food Group
- Continental 29
- Driven Performance Training
- General Assembly Summer Start-Up Accelerator
- Good Universe Production Company
Past Research Projects
In the past, students have completed the following research projects and business plans:
- Changing trends in the newspaper industry and readership among college students
- CottonGen, LLC business plan
- Traction Jack, LLC business plan