Expanding My Entrepreneurial Lens at the University of Pennsylvania

Another highlight of my academic journey was participating in the Experience of Entrepreneurship (EOE) summer program at the University of Pennsylvania. This program gave me a deeper look into what it really means to be an entrepreneur — not just in terms of launching a startup, but in embracing a mindset of curiosity, resilience, and action.

The EOE program emphasized experiential learning, pushing us to engage directly with real-world business challenges. Unlike traditional lectures, this program placed us in dynamic teams where we had to quickly ideate, iterate, and pitch new business ideas based on case studies and mentor feedback. We also explored key topics such as customer discovery, competitive analysis, and lean startup principles.

One of the most meaningful aspects of the program was our engagement with Penn’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. We heard from founders, alumni, and investors who shared candid insights about their journeys — both the successes and the setbacks. It was eye-opening to see how failure was not only accepted but embraced as a learning process. This shifted my perspective: I began to see entrepreneurship not as a straight path, but as a constant cycle of testing, learning, and evolving.

During the final project, my team developed a concept for a sustainable food delivery platform that prioritized local sourcing and minimal packaging. I contributed heavily to the business model design and customer validation strategy, applying many of the concepts I had learned in previous programs. But it was in this project that I truly started to connect the dots — realizing how empathy, strategy, and execution all intersect in successful ventures.

Looking back, the Penn EOE program helped me mature as a thinker and collaborator. It deepened my understanding of entrepreneurship as a mindset — one that values impact over perfection, adaptability over certainty, and long-term vision over short-term wins.