From this experience, I have learned many things about myself. Before I was given the opportunity to be a part of the Apprentice Challenge Team, I never thought I would be the manager of a business. After the challenge ended I realized this was the rightful job for me. Leadership, responsibility, reliability, and determination, allowed me to be a strong manager. Now that I know I have the capability to succeed in something I never imagined myself doing, the expectations I hold for myself are high. Having higher expectations, the challenge will be greater and I will aim for something more.

Since the challenge, I have a new perspective on business. I've learned that it takes more than the cooperation of 1 or 2 people to be successful. It takes the effort of many to accomplish something great. From generating ideas to selling your product or service, each person has a role. Whether it is a simple task or a task the business depends on, each person must take responsibility and complete their task. As I found out, the effort people put into their job is not always what is expected. When this happens, others must then complete the task in order to keep the business on course.

The Apprentice Challenge has taught me not only about myself and business, but also about management. To be in a business you must manage your time and money. When you are involved in many activities, time is one of your major factors. Finding times convenient for both you and your client can be difficult, especially when you have set dates. Managing your money is just as important. You must know your budget, in order to wisely purchase and sell your product or service.

For the next Apprentice Team, I would suggest having a few fully generated ideas before meeting with the committee. This will help you to start your business at an earlier date in the competition. Since the challenge only lasts so long, I highly suggest working the entire time you're given. Procrastination only causes stress and more work in the end. In addition to that, communicate and put in a good effort; they will only make your business more successful. Also, setting deadlines and assigning specific tasks for each person to complete help keep everything on course.

I believe the Apprentice Challenge could be improved by choosing students who honestly want to be a part of the team. By this I mean students that are willing to give the time and effort needed in order to run a business. I do not think choosing students at random is the best way to form a team. Also, I believe more meetings with the committee until the business idea is decided upon would help the students start at an earlier date, thus giving them more time to sell their service or product.

~Rochelle

I've learned multiple things about myself due to the experience. I learned that I have the ability to put differences aside, and work with people of different social groups. Although I don't have all of the same friends as my teammates, I learned that I can work things out to become successful. I also learned that I need to have confidence in myself and my team. As a team, knowing that we would compete against Wooster was not the greatest factor for our egos to take in. But when I started to work more and more, I realized that we could beat Wooster.

 One more lesson that I learned, was that you must listen to experienced people. Different people have different opinions about certain things. In the world, as teenagers, we often are close-minded. But through this challenge, I learned that you have to listen to others to possibly be influenced in a positive way.

 My advice to next Apprentice challenge group is, “A good beginning makes a good end.” The faster you start on this challenge, the easier it will be. Be open to new ideas and work hard. Money is not the only thing that you gain from the challenge, you also gain experience. You can apply what you learn to your life.

 I do not think the apprentice challenge could be improved any more. The challenge made us all work hard and learn about business. This experience was fun and well-worth the time put in. It changed my outlook on the business world. People may tell you, “No.”, but you have to just move on.

~Adrian

What I have learned about myself from this experience is that I need to do things in advanced, and not wait till last minute. I think that if we would have had our idea, and I would have got in contact with everyone more often then we could have made more money. I also learned that I'm good working with groups of people.

What I have learned about business is that it's very competitive. When we would call businesses, and ask them to buy our tree it's almost like we were competing with others that were asking for money as well. I also believe that in business you have to have some kind of new idea or something different about what you're trying to sell, because that's what attracts other people into your company.

I've learned the lesson to start things way in advanced, so that there isn't unnecessary frustration. I learned too that by having a "manager" was very helpful, because we could text or call her anytime we had a problem, or needed to ask a question. Finally, I learned that by splitting everyone up, and having different jobs was a lot easier.

The advice that I would give the next Apprentice Challenge group is to start right away! They need to find their idea as soon as possible. They need to work as a team, and lastly have their business be something that's attractive, something that someone is interested in.

I think that if we had a little more time to come up with our idea, then we could of done better. Everything was coming at us so fast, that we didn't really expect that.

~Lauren

I taught myself that business can be a fun thing to do, not just an obligation. Also, I learned that I can find time in my schedule to do extra stuff, even though I'm already busy.

I've learned a lot about how business work and how much effort is put into making something as small as planting a tree happen. Also I learned how to talk to big businesses and communicate what I need to get across while still keeping their full attention. I also learned (the hard way) that business takes time and a lot of it. We only did this in two to three weeks and if we would have had more time I'm sure we could have gotten more money.

I've learned that dedication is a key virtue in life outside of high school. Also, I realized that a good idea can be worth big money.

I would tell the next group of students to start early next year. They need to take full advantage of the six weeks and do good, hard work. The time goes very quick, contrary to what I thought before it began, and it seems that you only run out of time. the biggest thing is to really take the time to sit back and hunker down on the task at hand regardless of what you feel like doing.

It could maybe be improved if before the six weeks began the students already had their idea. we spent three to four weeks gathering our idea and information. We would have been a lot more successful if we would have had that time to get companies and other things.

~Jaren

From this experience I have learned:

1. A lot about time management and how to work well with other people when we only have a short time to come up with an idea
2. To always try to keep everything professional when you're selling things, or however, just try to be professional
3. Just to do the job that you were given for your assignment and complete yours and not to worry about other people
4. Try and brain storm ideas before you meet with your mentors. The brainstorm exercises really helped me.
5. Possibly contacting the mentors before so the students know what to expect and what you expect from us would help.

~Allyson

I learned that if you want to do something you must commit to it. Business takes a lot of time and hard work. You need to be on top of your game and give it your all. Use your time well! How can the Apprentice Challenge program be improved? Maybe to give a little more time.

~Sara