Enactus World Cup: How Canadian Students are Making a Difference

I recently attended the Enactus World Cup as a guest of Capital One Canada. If you aren’t familiar, I am here to fill you in. The main thing you need to know is that CANADA WON the 2016 competition with an innovative hydroponics system that’s bringing fresh fruit and vegetables to indigenous communities and schools across Canada. Iwas totally blown away by their hard work and ability to make a difference, and make it sustainable with ongoing profits ($90k+). I nearly had tears watching them present. GREAT WORK! When Capital One Canada reached out to me be about attending I was rally jazzed to learn more because I too was a young entrepreneur. When I was 15 I won Young Entrepreneur of Cambridge after starting a publishing company, writing a book, and producing a quarterly newsletter for youth around the globe. [Note this was pre-internet/social media!] Through our efforts we also donated a portion of the sales from each book to the local women’s crisis shelter and spoke to kids in primary schools about bullying, following their dreams, and entrepreneurship. What is Enactus? Enactus stands for “ENtrepreneurial ACTion for others creates a better world for US all”. It is an international non-profit dedicated to inspiring students to improve the world through entrepreneurial action. The program aims to help tackle the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which have been set for 2030. The Enactus World Cup is the world’s largest competition of business innovation and entrepreneurial action for social impact.  This year, 36 countries were represented from 1,700 campuses with 69,000 students taking part. Before making it to the finals, teams take part in regional and national challenges. One of those is The Capital One Financial Education Challenge where teams across the Canada present projects that most effectively use financial education and/or inclusion to empower people to improve their…

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so what i’m crazy, that leaves me with all the freedom

“People will laugh at you because you’re different. You will laugh at them because they’re all the same.” This quote came in a Twitter post by an experienced blogger I follow on Twitter named John Chow. People have always said “You’re crazy” or as I dance by myself in the middle of the dance floor with my arms over my head “That’s Casie, she’s crazy“.   For a while I thought, “Oh no, they think I’m crazy” but that was followed by thinking, “no, you are just different and they are all the same.” (Yes, I have had this conversation with myself more than once.) I would rather be seen as crazy, than ordinary any day.     As soon as someone says you are crazy, they really give you the power and freedom of expression to do whatever you want. You can transcend all boundaries of what people consider normal because they already know you’re ‘out there’.   This motivates me.

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