During Summer 2007, five Oberlin students explored the spectrum of entrepreneurship through Creativity & Leadership Internship Stipends.

Alex Birnie, a sophomore student in both the Conservatory and College of Arts and Sciences, interned with Gerald Wirth, the Artistic Director of the Vienna Boys Choir.  Alex worked alongside Mr. Wirth as he developed his business plan for expanding the Wirth Academy of Music in Vienna into a franchised model of music pedagogy.  As part of his internship, also, Alex also assisted in the coordination of a joint project with renowned musician Ravi Shankar. 

A native of Calgary, Alberta, Alex flourished in a family environment that encouraged creative risk-taking, and indeed initiated his own ventures even while in high school.  “While incessant business discussions at the dinner table might seem a nightmare to some,” he explains, “for me it initiated an excitement that has propelled me towards the challenge of realizing new ideas and creative projects ever since.” Alex is pursuing an educational path at Oberlin that fosters his entrepreneurial spirit: “As a double degree student studying Voice Performance and Economics/Theater, I am often in situations where diverse skills are required of me on a daily basis. The creative energy of musical interpretation or acting class deeply contrasts the analytical nature of macroeconomic theory or calculus. To me, entrepreneurship represents a symbiosis of these interests. I find the creative synthesis of ideas and realizing them through business and production planning to be an entirely infectious combination.”

Cher-Wen DeWitt used her first summer as an Oberlin student to prepare for a career path aimed at providing humanitarian medical relief in underdeveloped countries.  “A part of my motivation to start my own nonprofit organization is my insatiable desire to create opportunity for myself and others. Nothing is quite as rewarding as the experience of creating a thriving, successful operation by making sacrifices and becoming personally dedicated to a cause.”

Cher-Wen interned with New York City Medics, a non-profit organization whose mission it is to deliver emergency medical care in response to disasters worldwide.  “While I can read as many books as I can get my hands on regarding procedures and strategies necessary for running a successful and efficient nonprofit,” she wrote, “much of that information is invalid unless coupled with actual working experience.”  Indeed, interning with an organization still young in its development afforded Cher-Wen the invaluable opportunity to experience first-hand the challenges and rewards of launching a venture: “While it is your responsibility as an entrepreneurial leader to approach a project being well-prepared, it is inevitable and necessary to take risks to reach a certain level of success.”

Three seniors were among the five to be awarded entrepreneurship internships for Summer 2007.  Molly Danielsson, a student in Environmental Studies, prepared to launch her own art studio by interning with painter Jennifer Delilah at her New York studio, and Diana Frame, a senior in Comparative Literature, learned first-hand the ins and outs of film production and editing through an internship with filmmaker Rian Orso. Environmental Studies major Elisa Saltet considers her internship with landscape artist Walter Cudnohufsky a vital element in her education and critical to her entrepreneurial aspirations: “Graduate school will provide me with training in the field of landscape architecture, but to start my own practice, this is not enough.  I need experience in running a business, especially in the nuances of leading a planning firm. My internship combines both the work experience and the mentoring that are crucial to entrepreneurship, but that I will not gain in graduate school."