High school is the perfect time to explore different interests and potential careers. Students chase this pursuit through classes, volunteering, internships, and occasionally, camps.
Four SHS juniors, Alex Newberg, Stephanie Hong, Sophie Ballah, and Jenna Bao attended Camp Enterprise from Fri. Oct. 21 to Sun. Oct. 23 at Camp Kern. The program is sponsored and run by the Rotary Club of Northeast Cincinnati.
Rotary International has clubs all over the world consisting of business and community leaders devoted to service. This includes large-scale projects such as ending polio as well as work with students. Interact Club is sponsored by the Rotary.
While Camp Enterprise has existed for years, 2016 saw a reboot of the program. A major change was making the event significantly smaller, so only 19 students attended from SHS, Schilling School for Gifted Children, Loveland, and Madeira.
“I went into the camp thinking that I was just going to learn the basics of business. But when I found out that we were creating a startup company from scratch I was all of a sudden a lot more engaged in the experience. It was a lot of fun, not only from the business perspective but also the social aspect as we bonded with our teams,” Newberg said.
The camp placed an emphasis on leadership and business, however participants did not necessarily need prior business knowledge. Participants were split into groups to develop original business plans and present them on the final day, and a speaker, entrepreneur Tarek Kamil, presented on tips to starting a business.
“All in all, it was a great experience. I learned that there are no bad ideas and that if you really want to come up with an innovative solution to a problem, you think of the problem and all possible solutions first. Never think about the solution before fully understanding the problem,” Newberg said.
Many participants stated that they started seriously considering a career in business because of the experience.
“I think Camp Enterprise was a really good way to meet other motivated people with similar aspirations…I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet not only people of my own age but also some prominent members in the Rotary and business communities who showed the real side of a career option,” Ballah said.