The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) opened on Monday, July 8, a training program designed for aspiring entrepreneurs with 50 shortlisted applicants in attendance.
Now in its third year, the 2024 Entrep Boot Camp aims to share business and managerial expertise to participants and further screen candidates for UPLB associate degree programs.
Assistant Professor Rei Chino Pua, lead coordinator of the event, highlighted the outcomes of the seven-day activity, which he calls ‘stepwise and systematic.’
“We start with the basic concepts and an introduction to entrepreneurship, then we teach them the importance of generating ideas and innovations, based on opportunities and responding to what the society needs in order to provide value and relevance. Then we try to validate them,” he explained.
All activities are designed to be more immersive and practical, so that learners would not remain stuck in lectures and seminars.
As setting up a business needs tangible work, participants will be given the chance to plan and execute one during the course of the week.
Pua later said that they won’t be confined within the bounds of the college grounds, as they intend to go outside to gain deeper field experience. Some participants were excited by this prospect.
JV, an Associate in Arts Entrepreneurship applicant, said he feels encouraged to participate in the program because he is “gaining new friends.”
He said it has been his dream to study at UPLB, so he wants to continue with the program. He hopes to gain more knowledge about entrepreneurship and looks forward to expanding his circle of friends.
Tristan, another applicant into the same degree program, said he is having so much fun meeting new people through the boot camp.
“I hope that I get to learn a lot more, so that I’ll be able to run my own business (in the future),” he added.
In a chance interview, UPLB Chancellor Jose Camacho said the entrepreneurship boot camp is the university’s way of extending its services for aspiring UP students beyond the college admission test.
The seven-day entrepreneurial activity will run until Sunday, July 14. –With Rolando Ng III
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