In Conclusion

This has been one of the most effective classes of my college career. I can look back at each of my classes over the past few years and they do not stand anywhere close to having the impact that Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship have had on my education. Those classes, while impactful, focused on the content and much less on the learned lessons that come from experiences in the workforce. The opportunities from this class such as the speakers, the discussions, the blog posts, and in-class lessons have together allowed me to learn more than I think I have in most of my years of college.

            To start, the speakers never failed to give some incredible advice to us based on their career experiences. Even though the tech was struggling, BJ Shaknowski had some amazing insight. He was confident, inspiring, and owned his advice. He was not afraid to be honest and I think that was so encouraging to hear. One thing that stuck out to me specifically was when he told us to never say no to an opportunity and to try to move horizontally in a company rather than vertically. He told us it would open new opportunities by teaching us lessons from all the different departments of the company. Rich Nanda was another speaker that stuck out to me. He had a strong confidence in him that allowed me to understand why he holds leadership. He was easily understandable, articulate, and clearly passionate about his work. Hearing him encourage us through our first jobs as well was great to hear. He told us that even mundane jobs, the simplistic ones, can open doors because all companies need that work to be done. I also really appreciated him telling us that when we have feedback for a coworker or employee, it is better to just say it than wait. It always goes better the sooner it comes to light. Finally, Adam Whitfield was amazing. He was so passionate about his work that it was infectious. Not only that but I think he sold his product to us and that just shows how good he is at his job. In fact, this past weekend I heard of bikers that bragged about how incredible Whoop was and how they would not bike without it anymore. I just hope I can find a job that means as much to me as Whoop does to Adam.

            The lessons in class were extremely impactful as well. It was the flexibility of classes that allowed me to learn. It was not just a lecture, it was the discussion that helped me actually grasp the concepts because I could ask questions that helped me understand. My favorite discussion was in our class on Artificial Intelligence. I thought I had a general understanding of the concept but that entire discussion showed me just how vast of a topic AI and ML really are. I think one part that was discussed in that class was the reCAPTCHA. Dr. Kane mentioned how the vast majority of those were streets, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, or people. He proceeded to mention that it was most likely to train AI or ML for self-driving cars. I thought that was crazy at the time but the more I have thought about it and every time I see one pop up, I realize it is the truth. There is an incredible amount of data out there and humans are just the fuel to it all.

            This class showed me that there are different ways to learn than the traditional format. I wish this could have been an option all the way through my academic career, and sadly it wasn’t, but I sure hope it becomes a norm for professors. I know it requires much more effort from the professors to stay engaged and enthusiastic, but I promise, It makes a huge impact on the students to see a Professor, such as Prof. Kane, care as deeply and passionately for their students and the topic. I could not recommend this class to anyone enough even if I tried. The 3 hours may have been difficult, but honestly flew by with the speakers, and discussions. It was incredible to see students actually engaged with the material, unlike anything I have seen in any other class. I truly appreciate you Prof. Kane and can’t wait to see the impact you make at UGA.