“Of all the course in the universe, why entrep?”
I had a share of those paparazzi questions. “Why entrep?”
Let me tell you something..
It’s not the original plan. It never was.
I was in third year high school when I fully convinced myself that I would take commerce as my course-MANAGEMENT. A lot were amazed on how early I was on the road to success, let’s just say, I’m a driven one and I’m one of those rare species you can find in the planet, and I mean it.
I was a big snob in career guidance seminars during the twilight years of my high school, but my “flock-of-sheep” needed me anyway. So their crowd favorite president always went to class to reassure that the “sheep” are in good condition. Nothing reassures the sheep more than the presence of a trusted shepherd. Whew!
This was the reason that for some time, SOME relatives from the mother side was disappointed with my decision (only a little) and pointed out that why didn’t I took nursing blah blah because it’s so in demand blah blah… I came from a family tree of established U.S. Navy Service Men (I’m with peace), Nursing graduates (I can’t memorize generics) and Engineering graduates (crap! I hate math). My path was totally out of their equation.
Came college enrollment. I was about to choose management, then this student assistant advertised, “why not take entrepreneurial-managementt. instead”. I was ignorant at that moment, “what (the hell) was that course?” She said, “well it’s a two in one course you would graduate with a degree of management and entrepreneurship” “Ok” then I took the so called “course”.
First year came, and whoow! my classmates were in some way, big time. They had big businesses, some bakery as good as Danes, some a restaurant, some a hotel, they even had cars, gadgets and stuff which I didn’t have. It eventually came down to me that “what the (f*ck)..I’ve entered into” feelings. We only had this humble souvenir shop in Maharlika bldg, a humble tailoring shop, and a sleeping resort somewhere in La Union (which now, being eaten by the rising China sea, and if I tried to talked about it, they consider me a threat to their “national security”), there’s no way I can compete with these “big” people.
I was determined to get out of this situation, so unprepared with only a unit of bulky PC. I started Paper.Works Digital Studio, A tech company courtesy of me. My bestseller: P 0.75 per page – black prints. In those days very few offer that price, so few that I am proud to consider myself a pioneer.
I also sold media gadgets and some printing papers. I had to work from home and eventually bring back the printed stuffs in school. For two years I have been a “tech dude”. I did websites for those who needed it. Students who asked and payed me to do their websites eventually ended being lightly scolded by their professors since they didn’t know how the HTML and CSS scripts goes. It just blew their mind to the seventh power.
In 2007 I was hired (without pay) by the Junior Creative Team (J.C.T.) , the Jr. version of the Young Entrepreneurs Society (Y.E.S.) I accept the job as a student public servant; liquidated by business and the rest was history.
Aldreen Dumasig 