During the last week of term, and into the holiday, I was given the opportunity to attend a Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) extreme experience called Entrepreneurs in Action (EIA).

This involved an all expenses paid trip to Wellington, with 65 other teenagers from around the country, to spend four days working and presenting different business challenges.

We were put into teams of six, which are individually linked to one of the corporate sponsors of Young Enterprise and EIA, with an alumni mentor and two corporate host representatives. I was in team Spark which meant that we had two Spark members, based in Wellington, helping with our team.

We completed two challenges which involved creating a solution to a particular problem statement, writing a business plan, creating a powerpoint and pitching as a team to judges, staff and the other teams. We were based at Massey University for most of the time, however did get to spend a day at the corporate office of your team's sponsor, so I spent a day at the Spark office. This office has over 15 floors connected with a glass elevator, stained glass walls along with high tech meeting rooms and a games room which overlooks Willis street in Wellington Central. Spending one day at this office working on our second challenge meant we got to take advantage of the resources, contacts and technology that Spark has access to. 

This trip was facilitated by many Young Enterprise staff from across the country including the head of YES, the CEO of YES, many area coordinators and other administration or event planning staff.  These staff were full of so much knowledge and experience which we got to utilise in our projects over EIA and I have also brought what I learned and applied it to my own business and to the remaining challenges left as part of the YES competition.

While in Wellington, we went to parliament and had a look around Massey University. In my free time, on day one, I took a tour around Victoria University and viewed documents such as the Treaty of Waitangi at the National Library.  

This was a very full on, long few days and so much hard work but it also was honestly some of the most fun that I have ever had. We were awarded Massey Business School Scholarships for our work on these challenges to assist us in our future studies if we choose to go down that path.

Being surrounded by other driven and hardworking teenagers who also excel in the Business Studies subject area was an amazing, encouraging and inspiring experience for me. Nothing I say will be able to express just how impactful this experience was. I have learnt so many new skills, developed skills I already had, made connections with other students across the country and formed relationships with a large range of companies and staff who have a wealth of knowledge and experience.

This truly was a once in a lifetime experience.