Four St. Thomas University students are proving that you don’t need to be a business major to become an entrepreneur.
The students flew to Boston last week to learn about start-up communities and meet entrepreneurs after being selected as ambassadors for the University of New Brunswick’s start-up incubator, the Pond-Deshpande Centre.
Tiffany Brown and Robery McMichael were among those selected to receive education and mentorship opportunities in entrepreneurship.
McMichael, a third-year criminology student, worried he wouldn’t be chosen as an ambassador because his major doesn’t seem relevant to business.
“Being chosen is a great accomplishment for me,” he said. “Knowing that the Pond-Deshpande employees at Pond-Deshpande see me as a successful ambassador makes me want to be a better one because I know I’m capable of it.”
“We’re demonstrating that you don’t have to be in a business or engineering program to be entrepreneurial-minded,” said Brown, a fourth year political science and communications major.
Fourth-year communications and criminology major Nova Pelletier and first-year student Al Cusack were also chosen from STU among 26 post-secondary students from across the province.
“I learned about the program last year when a presentation was made to my class,” said Brown. “Applicants were chosen based on a two-minute video where we describe our passions and how the program would help us.”
A native of Grand Bay-Westfield, Brown applied to the program to network with others. She hopes to meet as many people as possible and find work in New Brunswick after graduating.
“I feel like this program will provide me with a great network of people and offer me the chance to participate in events I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to otherwise,” she said. “The program allows us to attend events and conferences that are great networking opportunities.”
As for McMichael, he said nothing about his future is set in stone. One day he hopes to combine his passions and create a job for himself.
“I would want to own a business, be a lawyer and help people all around the world live better lives.”
