I immediately said yes, and offered some other business contacts that might be able to have a student work with them in this program. What I had been told, is because of privacy laws, and HIPPA it was becoming increasingly more difficult to find sites for students to "intern". This program is only available to those at the very top of their class.
I feel I've been very lucky to have Zachary Capps, as my intern this semester. This young man is incredible. Very intelligent, and has a strong sense of community, and an even stronger desire and commitment to exceed in all that he does, including becoming a business owner in our city of Beech Grove. I am amazed by his business ideas, the fact that he has a business plan, for each of his different business ideas and he sees opportunities that many older adults don't. I will be honest and say when I started out as an entrepreneur, I did not have a business plan, and I was 30!! Zac, just turned 18 this past August and has business plans.
When Zac told me about an opportunity that several students in his school have, I immediately donated to their cause. I'm asking friends, family and colleagues to read Zac's story below and if you are able to please contact me to donate to this opportunity. Zachary as well as his fellow business students have done a phenomenal job, raising the money they have raised up to this point on such short notice. They need to raise an additional $2000.00 by Tuesday 11/25/14. They just found this out on 11/20/14.
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My name is Zachary Capps and I am a 18 year old senior at Beech Grove High School about 5 miles south of downtown Indianapolis. I have been given a very great opportunity in getting to spend my entire first semester working with Dawn on a student based internship. I have been lucky enough to have known Dawn due to her daughter and my sister being such close friends growing up through their child hoods. I was kind of excited to get to work with her. Lets just say the last weeks have been very interesting.
I have been very interested in pursuing a career in business for most of my life. Going into the semester I worked with my teachers at the high school to find the perfect fit for my interests. The closest opportunity I could find was real estate. I was a little skeptical about this at first honestly. My step-father is a Realtor and I have seen all the hours you must put in to be successful. It is a commission based job, forcing you to put in the work in order for you to be successful. I have always been a hard worker and top in my class so I knew that this job should not cause any harm to me. I ended up choosing this opportunity expecting to just get by with the work and maybe meet some new people. I have sure done that.
At the beginning of my internship, I was introduced to a lot of new people and new technology. I had to learn real estate diction and new laws and regulations the state has placed upon real estate agents. Surprisingly, I caught on to this information very quickly and have been able to use it to my benefits. It took a couple of weeks for me to get the hang of all the requirements, but after those weeks I have been very confident in my work. I have been able to travel to houses, attend closings, and learn how to list houses. I have also been able to schedule showings, smoke detector checks, and work with clients on an individual basis. This experience has been much more than just real estate.
Dawn has given me the opportunity to meet a lot of new people, make new business connections, and socialize with professionals in the business fields that one day I hope to be at. Over the last semester, I have met a lot of new people and learned the real life of a Realtor. Being a Realtor is definitely not an easy job. It requires a lot of patience and constant contact with several clients at once. This field of work, has only reinforced my mission of being an entrepreneur.
Through the school system I have been very involved in building a brand new business academy. At the beginning of this year, I received my wish and we established a business academy. I have a mission that before I graduate for high school that I leave a lasting legacy for the business academy. Beech Grove High School has recently established enrollment in the nationally recognized business association named, DECA. The goal of DECA is to create leaders and entrepreneurs from teenagers to build the future of our nation. I want Beech Grove DECA to help create a greater Beech Grove city.
Beech Grove DECA was recently given the opportunity to attend a business conference in Orlando, Florida. Us students were very stoked about the opportunity. However, we were given very little time to act if we wanted to realistically attend this event.
We were told on November 10th that we would have to come up with nearly $5000 by December 19th, but would have to have nearly half of that by November 25th for a down payment. The club came within $700 of making that goal a reality with such short time. We put so much time and effort into making this happen, that we were literally shocked to hear that plans had changed. The school system has decided that we are unable to take a bus to the event and we must fly. That adds $2000 to our cost that we have to come up with in such short time. Beech Grove DECA has a mission to attend this event and bring back different marketing techniques that corporations like Disney use on a daily basis to help build up local businesses. We are asking for everyone's help to donate money for our cause. We are accepting donations to the club in general and also donations for the trip only. The students have put in so much time and effort that not attending this trip would be very disappointing. Hopefully one day, Beech Grove DECA can team up with you or your company to help greater your business!
If you are interested in donating, please contact me dawn@dawnwhalen.com, or at 317-459-5182 and I will provide you the information needed to donate.
