My Entrepreneurship Story

The summer after my senior year of high school, my girlfriend took me to the non-profit research center her parents started before she was born. The name of this non-profit is BFREE which stands for Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education, and it is located in the rainforest in southern Belize. The goal of this organization is to work with the Belizean government to help preserve the rainforest in Belize. I was privileged enough to stay here for ten days with her family and I got to see all of the projects they are working on. Currently, they are working on research and campaigns to save the hickatee turtle which is critically endangered. They also grow cocoa trees in the shade of the rainforest to show that deforestation is not necessary to have a full-fledged plantation in Belize. Every couple months BFREE is the host to students studying abroad from universities all over the United States. Jacob Marlin, my girlfriend’s father, is the mastermind behind this organization and talking with him in their home in the rainforest allowed me the opportunity to really meditate on what I wanted to get out of college and the kinds of goals I could set for myself to set me on the right path for the future. He taught me that I could drop out the rat race here in America and be a part of the world to support a cause bigger than myself.

I am in the Innovation Academy so ENT 3003 is required for me to take before I graduate. I am taking Entrepreneurship this fall semester instead of in the spring when it is recommended in order to focus on this course and get as much out of it as possible. With this course I would like to develop my idea to start a small non-profit organization of occupational therapists and physical therapists that work with WHO and UNHCR to benefit the lives of refugees around the world. Both OT and PT allow individuals to get back on their feet and start helping themselves.