SIFE members use management skills globally, locally |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Mar 04 2009 at 3:00 PM |
Courtesy Photo
SIFE member Nate Summerfield helps high school students participating in New Venture Adventure. The students created a small business and presented it to a panel of judges.
By Leah Petersen
Antelope Staff
After placing second at nationals last year, the SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise) team is setting their sights high for national competition in Los Angeles- hoping for even greater results.
As a freshman three years ago, Kelsee Sharpe, now a junior business administration major with an emphasis in management from Table Rock, had no idea how joining the SIFE team would shape her college career.
"I don't know what I'd do without it honestly," Sharpe said about membership in SIFE.
"It gets you out and involved in the community," Sharpe said. "Being a management major, I feel like I've actually learned management skills."
SIFE is based out of the business department, but is open to all students on campus. Starting in 2003 with just a few members, the team has grown to 21 members today.
Sharpe is now serving as the president for the SIFE team.
"We go out and do projects for elementary, high school, college students and some adults to teach them about ethics, financial literacy, market economics, environmental sustainability, entrepreneurship and personal success skills," she said.
This year the team is focusing on their theme, "A legacy of service, and a future of promise," Sharpe said.
"We develop projects all year long to teach those things to people. At the end of the year, we travel to a competition and we give a presentation to judges telling them what we have done the whole year," said Chelsey Brock, a business administration graduate student from Gothenburg. Brock was the organization's president for the past three years but is still an active member as a graduate student.
This year the team will travel together to Los Angeles for nationals. Although the team could have chosen to attend the competition in Denver, they say they would rather travel farther for more networking opportunities.
Sharpe said she has also learned people skills while being involved with SIFE. As a freshman she would never have been comfortable calling on the business leaders of the community and asking them to speak to the team.
"A lot of organizations, you know you just go and kind of listen to a speaker. But in this organization, you're actually the one making the project and going out into the community," Brock said. "It really helps you learn your leadership skills and public speaking skills."
Even though the team is based in Kearney, they reach out globally. Believing in a brighter future for the world, they serve through volunteer service in the community but donate money globally.
The also team takes part in New Venture Adventure, bringing 200 students and teachers from 19 schools to campus. They help each team to develop a small business plan to get hands-on experience. They present their business to a panel of judges at the end of the day to judge the possible success of the business.
The SIFE team holds events throughout the school year to get more involved on campus. This year they have held an etiquette dinner, mock interviews, ethics presentations, made donations to entrepreneurs in developing countries and held a book drive.
SIFE team members are always looking for new projects. In their pursuit of new project ideas, they look for input from all areas of campus.
Although they target new members from freshman classes, the SIFE team accepts new members from all classes. Membership is free and the team meets weekly, sometimes more often when working on a project. Each new member is matched with an experienced team member in what they call the buddy system. This gives each member a broader outlook on the possibilities with the team.
Interested students can contact Dr. Susan Jensen, SIFE advisor in the business department, a SIFE team member or attend a meeting to learn more about joining.
