By  David Shepley

What do you think of when you hear the word entrepreneur? Titans of Industry like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or Steve Jobs? Maybe comedic TV series like Silicon Valley which glorify eccentric egos, legendary lifestyles, sudden successes, and epic failures.

Entrepreneurs are simply individuals defined by an attitude or a mindset – something referred to as the entrepreneurial spirit. At its core, the entrepreneurial spirit combines creativity with strategy to solve a problem or fill a gap - whether that exists in a market, environment, or community! Entrepreneurial individuals are people who disrupt the status quo by creating original and effective solutions. While formal entrepreneurs typically create businesses, the entrepreneurial spirit can exist in any type of person, in any context.

To embody the entrepreneurial spirit is to act as a positive changemaker. To this end, the entrepreneurial spirit is one of the qualities universities most value when evaluating candidates during their extra-curricular portion of their application. Whether a poet, environmental scientist or computer programmer, all profiles can demonstrate this quality in their extracurricular pursuits.

As an example, throughout high school, I pursued wildlife conservation both within my home of Connecticut and throughout Africa, specifically Namibia and Tanzania. During my sophomore year of boarding school, I endeavoured to do what many ambitious high school students do - start a club!

Starting a club is more than a good idea; it represents a conscious decision to add to one’s community, step up as a leader, and leave a unique, and hopefully sustainable, legacy. Most critically, students desiring to start a club must take care not to chase an idea that already exists. This is where the entrepreneurial spirit truly takes shape. Students can follow a strategy called Design Thinking, first pioneered by Stanford within its focus on social entrepreneurship.

Design Thinking operates with a series of steps:

• Stage 1: Empathize—Research Your Users' Needs.
• Stage 2: Define—State Your Users' Needs and Problems.
• Stage 3: Ideate—Challenge Assumptions and Create Ideas.
• Stage 4: Prototype—Start to Create Solutions.
• Stage 5: Test—Try Your Solutions Out.

By following Design-Thinking, student-entrepreneurs can be sure that whatever initiative they start will indeed fill a gap and add value - financial, social, environmental, or even all three!

Back to my story. As a nature lover and avid wildlife enthusiast, I decided to create a wildlife conservation club. This would ensure I would continue to pursue what I loved while challenging myself to step out of my comfort zone. I began by finding a willing faculty advisor, proposing my idea to the student activities board, and subsequently taking on the responsibility of recruiting, organizing, and planning my club.

After the recommendation of faculty, I decided to align my club within my boarding school’s community service organization. By incorporating a service element into my wildlife club, I ensured that I was increasing my value. Now I was not just hosting a forum for wildlife enthusiasts, I was tangibly seeking avenues to improve the broader environment. As a result, our club not only hosted guest speakers, curated photographic exhibits, and contributed articles to the school newspaper, we also engaged in habitat restoration work, led educational field trips for primary school students, and collaborated with the administration to improve our facilities’ operational sustainability.

As the founder and president, I went from comfortable sophomore to initiative taker and rising campus leader. Within weeks, I was leading meetings, planning agendas, delegating tasks, and administering our initiatives. There were days that I was nervous, discouraged, and embarrassed to speak publicly. However, through my conscious decision to pursue the entrepreneurial spirit, I created a movement that eventually grew in size and impact. Moreover, I grew in my confidence, reputation, and leadership through every raw experience.

By my senior year, my leadership within this one club led the board of Exeter’s community service organization, a group overseeing 70+ student-led clubs (mine being one), to invite me to serve as their president - a position I had not even considered! This role went on to challenge me under greater leadership opportunities while I continued to practice the entrepreneurial spirit in shaping the broader campus. My role as president became my greatest extracurricular legacy, leading me to my Early Decision acceptance to Columbia University. Best of all, I could look back at my pathway there and follow a logical journey, from complacent freshman who loved animals, to school-wide student leader. The secret to my success; courage to pursue the entrepreneurial spirit.

In my work as an educational consultant, I encourage all students to answer the call of how they can take on more challenges to grow their potential through their pursuit of the entrepreneurial spirit. Think about what you love or are good at. Then think outside of the box, define and empathize with your community, and now fill a void — whatever you do, whether in school or outside, in person or online, take charge, seek support, and step out of your comfort zone. You will assuredly leave a legacy, grow in your character, and build a unique, and competitive, extracurricular to boost your resume and college applications!

Book your free consultation here if you are still confused about the application process, university selection, and scholarship process. The Hale team will assist and support you through every step of the way.

- Hale Education Group