Digital Frontiers

I hate to burst your bubble, but these dirty things are more along the lines of community service…

For a solid 6 THOUSAND dollars, high school sophomores and juniors can relinquish a full summer to engage in a few months of college life, community service and leadership building. Sound exciting?

We have to understand that the University of Florida is becoming one of the hardest universities to gain admission into. Here at UF, we call ourselves a Public Ivy: sounds impressive. These days, high school students are willing to do just about anything to get into the college of their dreams. If it takes a sacrificial summer, consider it done. If it takes hours upon hours of dirty-work (aka community service), the challenge gets sort-of exciting.

The UF Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership and Sustainability gives high school students the chance to separate themselves from the overwhelming crowd of applicants. The program is a break-even masterpiece, yet grows every year at a staggering rate. At YELS, students gain college credit, extensive community service (that fulfills Bright Futures requirements), and a good amount of fun everyday.

But, God forbid anything be compared to the king of all kings: Google. YELS has a lot of learning to do. Let’s break this down. Here are a couple (simple) ideas that Google has mastered. If followed, YELS would improve significantly:

1) MONEY:                 charge less to increase the database

2) ADVERTISE:         let others advertise for you… like high school counselors?

3) CREDIBILITY:      gain respect (quickly) with improvements every summer

In the end, no one can come close to Google. But hey, when it comes to desperate high school teenagers, any company or program could benefit from such ambition and anxiety.

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