INTRODUCTION

On the 22^nd August, 2022 the Students’ Financial Support Office in collaboration with the Design Thinking and Innovative Hub (D-HUB) organized an Awardees’ Symposium for its beneficiaries.  The purpose of the symposium was to provide students with the requisite soft skills for life. The programme also made a call on them to be innovative and venture into entrepreneurship and create more employment opportunities after school. Topics treated were developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset, Spotting Opportunities in the University Ecosystem, Goal Setting and Milestones in Life, Time and Financial Management. These topics were facilitated by experts from the University.

Dr. Keren Naa Abeka Arthur, the Director of D-HUB encouraged students to have an open mind to spot opportunities in the University Ecosystem and also not give up on their dreams. Rather they should make use of the available opportunities. She strongly emphasized on the availability of numerous opportunities and urged the Awardees present to visit the D-HUB in order to help them nurture, plan, innovate, grow and develop those ideas, skills and passion thereby transforming them into reality.

The Director shared that young graduates or students who take the brave step of managing their future and its affairs by arming themselves with some entrepreneurial abilities will make this century, better than the previous one. She assured them the availability of D-HUB resources to help them with the use of Design Thinking and the continuous seeking of information through research to help them shape their innovation ideas.  She ended her speech by saying “there is nothing impossible and that individuals with the desirous goals of solving societal problems and global issues and with a mindset of entrepreneur should be positive at all cost and see failure as part of the process of attaining higher height.”

 Miss Irene Naa Armah, an Entrepreneurial Coach, encouraged start up entrepreneurs to face their fears since it serves as a challenge that when dealt with, will rather encourage them in their quest to succeed. Further to her speech on the theme: “Developing an Entrepreneurial mindset. She made mention of having a vision and focus and be ready to explore new innovations. She urged them to be bold and see themselves as future leaders ready to live their dreams.

Mrs. Baaba Nzimah-Mensah, counsellor –University Health Service advised the Awardees on how to balance their entrepreneurial pursuit with their academics. She urged them to first discover who they are, evaluate and try as much as possible to balance the two by being intentional about it. She also encourage them to set goals which should be (SMART) that is the goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Individuals must be persistent and avoid procrastination which in the later comes with its own stress, anxiety and disappointment

Dr. Nuer, the Agribusiness Program Coordinator took the Awardees through Financial management, where he introduced the 70/30 and 80/ 20 principles.  He supported his claims with various case studies that had helped students gain financial freedom. Participants were   encouraged to follow the participant to follow suit in order to gain financial stability.

Miss Grace Mensah, The Students’ Financial Support Administrator took Awardees through time management by introducing the Prickle Jar Theory to them, and encouraged them to have a to do list through a scale of preferential importance, she also urged them to prioritize their task by assigning a price tag to every activity they seek to perform while on campus because time is a non-renewable resource.

 This she said will go a long way to enhance their academic performance She also motivated them to make use of the skills given them and push for a better place in the future as entrepreneurs with both local and global recognition. She ended her speech with the assurance that she wishes to see most beneficiaries’ years later or months to come supporting the scheme in diverse ways but failure to manage their time effectively and efficiently will have serious consequences on their future aspirations.

 Above all, it was a successful program and the turnout was great.