So many of us are passionate about solving problems, designing the ‘next big thing’ and being leaders in our community, but how do we actually convert these words into action?
I remember when I first tried to get involved in the world of Entrepreneurship people would ask me how old I was before I pitched my idea. I knew it put me at an immediate disadvantage and I was shocked to see how prevalent this was across the community. For a while I thought that there was a problem in the community, little did I realise that it was actually a problem in my own approach.
I soon realised that if I approached people with enthusiasm and a general desire to learn they were more than happy to mentor me and listen to my ideas. I can attribute a lot of my learnings in the last year to these great mentors that have come into my life.
If you want to make a difference and improve your problem solving skillset there is more than enough events to get involved in. Whether it is societies at universities, networking events, hackathons or conventions there are a breadth of places to put yourself out there.
And essentially that’s what it comes down to.
Putting yourself out there.
Each coffee, hackathon and networking even that I went to I progressively learnt more, met more people and got exposed to new opportunities. And trust me, each event you go to it get’s easier and easier!
As soon as exam period roles around it's incredibly easy to sideline our ambitions and projects we want to work on. I remember in 2018 I was given the opportunity to partake in a Commonwealth Bank Hackathon, with a number of university commitments piling up I almost decided not to go. With the benefit of hindsight this almost seems laughable and it turned out to be one of the most developmental experiences I've had. My advice here is that when you are weighing up opportunities try and picture yourself in a years time and think about which one will add the most value to your life!
If you are looking for somewhere to start, Young Change Agents and the City of Sydney are hosting a Social Enterprise Designathon at Customs House. It’s a one-day event and it will be an awesome opportunity to be a part of ideating, developing and pitching a solution to one of the City of Sydney’s target problems. There will be opportunities to make new friends and possibly acquire a grant to develop your idea further.
This is a unique opportunity to help shape the future for Youth in Sydney and it will no doubt be an invaluable.
If you want to watch the highlights from last years event you can see it here.
