The End: I Still Can't Spell "Entrepreneur"

Is it August already? I can't even believe I mapped out an entire business in 13 short weeks. I've learned, I've grown, I've stress cried...but it was well worth it.

I think my most formative experience was when I took a class on health disparities that taught me about rural health which was the inspiration behind my entire idea. It's something that often goes overlooked and I liked researching it more in depth throughout the semester. This is definitely a topic I will continue to learn about in the future.

Honestly, after this semester, I do not see myself as an entrepreneur. But that is okay! We don't all have to be the same, business driven people. I can make a difference in a different way.

Dear future students,

You will be okay. I promise. I know it seems overwhelming and Friday nights might be spent frequently calling friends for an interview, but you will grow from this. Stay ahead, stay focused, stay passionate. Also do not forget the cupcakes

Also learn how to spell entrepreneur. I still cannot but you really should give it a shot. You'll write it a lot.

Love,

your favorite non-entrepreneur,

Megan 

the people that supported me through my breakdowns <3

(PS if you are in IA apply for ambassadors!!)

Venture Concept 2- 29A "FreshFood Trucks Co."

    As students, when we're in need of food, the answer is simple. A quick trip to Publix will do the trick. However, this is not the case for everyone in America. This innovation would attack a lack of access to fresh, healthy, and convenient foods and food sources. Its purpose is to change this in order to fight rural health disparities. Other factors including health literacy also play a part in these disparities, which would not be impacted by this nonprofit. This innovation would help people living in food deserts in rural counties. However, people that never leave their house would not be able to access the portable farmers markets as they would be at particular events. Additionally, since there are so many churches in several Florida rural counties, I would have the markets often form there. If people do not attend these services, they would not be able to access this particular one. Differing underlying causes could be a lack of education, choice to live a rural lifestyle, live on a farm and have access to ingredients     I believe the type of person that would benefit most from my product is someone from a rural county. After speaking to several people from nearby rural counties including Bradford and Levy counties, both of which are only approximately half an hour to an hour away from UF. I found that most interesting because of the abundance of options we have so close to campus compared to food deserts in rural counties only a short drive away. I have recently taken a trip to Levy county for my introduction to health disparities class, so I was familiar with the options or namely the lack of options for affordable, accessible healthy fruits and vegetables, but it was very interesting to hear about what it was like to actually live there. My interviewees in the past have described rural life as a simple one, with only a few convenience stores and what seems like more churches than houses. They described the landscape as very open with sometimes miles of space between houses.      After conducting various interviews for this project I can conclude that there is definitely a need for more accessible and affordable healthy options in rural areas. It would be important to establish a proper schedule for the portable farmers market in order to ensure accessibility for the ideal consumer.      My ideal customer is proud to live in their rural town: a low income, small town family, that frequently attends church and enjoys the simplicity of their day to day life. My customer probably lives in a small family, possibly two or three kids, maybe homeschooled. Politically they are probably more conservative as they live in a rural area and are quite religious. They probably watch the news and focus on more local events as they are very in tune with their community. 



The feedback I received on my first Venture Concept was really good. Students were able to relate to my idea, especially those from Rural communities.

Their critiques encouraged me to change my introduction a little bit, especially when catering to certain audiences. I feel like this will help get investors more intrigued and eager to hear more about my ideas.

Reading Assignment 3

1) You read about an entrepreneur: Coco Chanel

• What surprised you the most? Coco Chanel went through a lot more tragedy that I had originally expected. Her mother died when she was quite young. Additionally, as a child her family did not have very much money. I had assumed she'd come from a more wealthy background. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? Coco Chanel was extremely resilient and well adjusted. I think this quality is extremely admirable and super useful as an entrepreneur and honestly a general person. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? I genuinely cannot think of anything I don't admire about Chanel. She really built her business from the ground up and stayed strong in times of distress. 
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Absolutely. She struggled from an early age, losing her mother and living in poverty. She learned to make the best of her situation and found success through hard work.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? I would consider Chanel to be resilient and tenacious

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. Chanel's controversy during the Second World War was a bit confusing. 

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? I would ask her where she found inspiration and what her main purpose was because I know these things are what drive progress. 

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? I absolutely think that hard work was crucial to Chanel's mindset as an entrepreneur and this is an opinion that I share

Exit Strategy

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

I think my innovation is definitely sustainable, I will just need to pass it along to students or other organizations that can keep it going. The first way to do this would be partnering with on-campus organizations concerned with sustainability. I don't think I would consider selling the business. 

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

I have selected this as my exit strategy because the need will continue to grow without the service I am providing. While my project does not fully eliminate food deserts, it helps to offset difficulties related to them. I also think this could be a great opportunity for students. 

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

I think identifying new opportunities, such as more suburban communities, has helped me create a strategy that is mobile and can continue. 

Failure: Failing to Fail

1. I've never been a "math person." I'll admit it, I don't necessarily have a flair for the mathematics, but I always try my best. As a journalism major, this is no big deal, I typically take and excel in my English classes and have no practical use for the Pythagorean theorem...until I was required to take Math for Liberal Arts Majors. This class, specifically Exam 1, wrecked me, to say the least. After hours of studying, I received a 50%

2. My first thought was to panic. How will I ever recover from this? After recovering from my initial stress, I knew I needed to go over the material I had missed, seek extra help, and prepare even harder for the other exams in the class

3. I think failure is important to recognize. We absolutely cannot be good at all things. Failure is also how we learn and it's important to not be afraid to ask for help when we need it.

FreshFood Trucks Co. (24A)

This innovation would attack a lack of access to fresh, healthy, and convenient foods and food sources. Its purpose is to change this in order to fight rural health disparities. Other factors including health literacy also play a part in these disparities, which would not be impacted by this nonprofit. This innovation would help people living in food deserts in rural counties. However, people that never leave their house would not be able to access the portable farmers markets as they would be at particular events. Additionally, since there are so many churches in several Florida rural counties, I would have the markets often form there. If people do not attend these services, they would not be able to access this particular one. Differing underlying causes could be a lack of education, choice to live a rural lifestyle, live on a farm and have access to ingredients

I believe the type of person that would benefit most from my product is someone from a rural county. After speaking to several people from nearby rural counties including Bradford and Levy counties, both of which are only approximately half an hour to an hour away from UF. I found that most interesting because of the abundance of options we have so close to campus compared to food deserts in rural counties only a short drive away. I have recently taken a trip to Levy county for my introduction to health disparities class, so I was familiar with the options or namely the lack of options for affordable, accessible healthy fruits and vegetables, but it was very interesting to hear about what it was like to actually live there. My interviewees in the past have described rural life as a simple one, with only a few convenience stores and what seems like more churches than houses. They described the landscape as very open with sometimes miles of space between houses. 

After conducting various interviews for this project I can conclude that there is definitely a need for more accessible and affordable healthy options in rural areas. It would be important to establish a proper schedule for the portable farmers market in order to ensure accessibility for the ideal consumer. 

My ideal customer is proud to live in their rural town: a low income, small town family, that frequently attends church and enjoys the simplicity of their day to day life. My customer probably lives in a small family, possibly two or three kids, maybe homeschooled. Politically they are probably more conservative as they live in a rural area and are quite religious. They probably watch the news and focus on more local events as they are very in tune with their community. 

25A

Existing Market:

What’s Next: In regards to my particular innovation, the next step would include more research, gathering volunteers, and finally implementation. Obviously I would need to figure out how exactly I am getting the food together. I think it would be really great to work with universities, starting with UF to gather volunteers. 

Customers: After speaking with my ideal, typical customer, it is clear that my next step is gathering volunteer. Additionally, supplies are a must. This would also include transportation and how exactly I would set everything up. 

The first step in the future path would be finding volunteers. After that I would follow typical protocol for building an event and using the connections I have within the community to start gathering supplies. From then on it would be scheduling the different events for the “food desert truck” to appear in commonly frequented events. 

New Market:

I can identify a more affluent part of society, one that’s filled with resources and transportation opportunities. 

Perhaps if I put the food truck at more local suburban events it could be more like a delicacy rather than a way to support basic necessities. 

After talking to one of my family members I actually think my innovation would fit in really well in a more affluent community. It would have the “farm fresh, farm to table” idea and aesthetic that is really popular. It could actually be trendy! This was actually a really interesting concept in brainstorming for this innovation. 

I was really surprised after applying my ideas to a different type of market. I had really only thought of my project as a way to bridge inequality gaps and help struggling communities combat health disparities. However, due to current social and health trends, I think a lot of people in other communities might enjoy having a supermarket fresh food truck at community events.  

23A

Passion for human rights issues: really important, specific to me, my “why” that helps drive everything  (top)

Experience in Rural counties: rare, helped show me the need

Health Disparities class and professor: provides me with important resources and research

Friends from Rural Counties: provides a new perspective 

Communication skills: helps in interview process

Peers studying sustainability: helped to provide research and a new perspective 

Friends studying nonprofits: rare, taught me about starting 

Writing abilities: help me to be clear and specific

Innovation minor: this one is definitely more rare, helps me to collaborate 

Political experience: shows me from a policy standpoint what can be done about food deserts 

Book Review 2

1. The general theme of “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big” by Adams was unlikely success. He explains that entrepreneurial success stories are unique and they do not all follow the same, standard type pathway. 
2. I really enjoyed how this book amplified what I have been learning in this course. The author used lighthearted, more anecdotal styles of writing to effectively show how being an entrepreneur can be done in so many ways which I think is something this class directly shows us. While we each complete the assigned steps, we weave in our own creativity along the way and see how our connections can help us get to the top. I really liked the part about selfishness and it made me think of our idea napkin and how we had to identify our own qualities.
3. I would institute a scenario where everything changes. The author explains hope important flexibility in your idea is, so instituting a major change for our innovation would be a fun way to see how students would adapt. 
4. As a very logical person, I was most surprised when Adams told readers to assume that people are irrational. Nevertheless, I think his advice here was very worthwhile 

20A

1. Expert in industry:

1) Who they are and what their background is: The expert in this topic is my Introduction to health disparities professor. 2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot: She fills this spot as she is an expert in health disparities which is the main issue I am trying to address when it comes to the purpose of my innovation 3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person: I found this expert through class and contacted her in this way 4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? She provided me with a lot of key information regarding food deserts and health disparities and different methods of combatting them. She also provided me with information regarding rural healthcare which directly is impacted by my idea.2. Expert in Market 1) Who they are and what their background is. My second “expert” is one of my peers who is a sustainability major. He has done extensive research on food deserts and thought of similar project based solutions in class 2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot. I am filling the spot of market expert as my classmates has created similar entrepreneurship based projects. 3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person. I found this person through my connections within the Innovation Academy here at UF 4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? We discussed existing solutions and he provided me with additional measures for research purposes. 3. Industry supplier 1) Who they are and what their background is. My third person is an entrepreneur who now works in sales  2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot. I am filling the supplier as he has felt with marketing projects through work in the past 3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person. I found this person through other business related contacts and we spoke over the phone  4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? The exchange was very positive and he gave me great advice on sales and the pressures of the marketing industry. This experience in networking was really beneficial to my growth as an innovator and an entrepreneur. I was forced to get out of my comfort zone and talk to new types of people. 

Elevator Pitch 3

Here is my third elevator pitch! I continued to talk passionately about my innovation and tried to really make sure my pitch was catered to my audience. I tried to speak clearly and confidently with a professional manner to effectively get my point across. I enjoyed hearing the feedback from my classmates and feel like their input helps me get closer to achieving my goal. Third time's the charm!

Idea Napkin part 2

1. Hey ENT friends! My name is Megan Wordell and I am a rising junior in the Innovation Academy majoring in Political Science and Journalism with minors in Innovation and Sociology. A few of my talents include trying to be funny on Twitter, political organizing, and most of all I can eat a whole jar of frosting in one sitting! My more comical skills and experiences probably won’t be very useful in this project but they help me make light of more serious issues, such as the one my project is based around. While I don’t know my specific aspirations, helping people in some aspect of their life is very important to me and I think my values of empathy and compassion will really come through in this. I am extremely passionate about politics and human rights which is what I decided to focus my project on. I'm a firm believer in equality of opportunity and that's why this issue is so important to me. 

 I am offering a stable source of affordable, healthy, and most importantly accessible foods to customers in rural food deserts 
My ideal customer is someone, perhaps a family, living in a rural area, with a shortage of access to local health options. I am mainly focused on fulfilling these needs in food desert areas.
Customers will care because this is a cost effective way for them to achieve a healthier lifestyle.
I think a few of my core competences include my professional communication skills and strong leadership style. I have had the chance through group projects in the past to expand upon both of these and it has really shaped the way I collaborate. Additionally, a few of my core values include empathy and compassion, both of with are related to helping the needs of others 
I feel that all of these competencies, skills, ideas, and values, will all mesh well together with my project topic. My work in politics and passion for humans rights issues is also directly related to this assignment; I learned about food deserts in one of my sociology classes, and it was the main source of a lot of my research for this project. I will be able to combine my passions for these issues with the skills I have gained in other works to bring this project to fruition.

I believe that all of these components of my life and personality can help me in my project in some way, even the ones that seem off topic. I am really passionate about helping others and I know that I will be able to use that "why" in whatever I do, in this project and in my life 

Customer Avatar

My ideal customer is proud to live in their rural town: a low income, small town family, that frequently attends church and enjoys the simplicity of their day to day life. My customer probably lives in a small family, possibly two or three kids, maybe homeschooled. Politically they are probably more conservative as they live in a rural area and are quite religious. They probably watch the news and focus on more local events as they are very in tune with their community. 

I don’t have very much in common with my character avatar. I mainly chose this type of customer after learning about a need for this service in a class about health disparities. While I do recognize our differences, I think it is important to recognize barriers to equality of opportunity and this is something my innovation really focus on. 

Elevator Pitch 2

Since my first elevator pitch, I feel like I have learned so much more about my ideal consumer. I think I would cater this pitch to my audience, if I am talking to students I would keep this introduction as it is. If I were talking to investors, I would talk more about the economic possibilities of my idea and how it would be an efficient project to fund. Hearing from others has allowed me to find a new perspective on my idea and better craft both my innovation and my marketing tools.

15A

Interview 1 was done with one of my friends who is a Sustainability major. He has done a significant amount of research on them and different types of solutions, so I thought his expertise on the issue would be very beneficial to my own research. He said that the most important question is going to be about convenience. He explained that transportation is already a huge part of the issue of food deserts so this is going to be most important. 

My second interview was with my mom who is a nutrition specialist. She had a unique perspective on the issue of food deserts because of what she does. She was able to help me really emphasize the need for a product like this. Using the science behind it, I can develop a better sense of credibility when pitching my idea to investors. 

My third interview was with another one of my friends from a rural area. She explained that getting groceries was not a difficult issue for her and her family because they had access to transportation, however she understood its importance. I think this was a really interesting perspective to have on the issue as she has known people who have struggled with this before. 

After talking to others with a different perspective, I am learning a lot about the needs of people in rural counties. I think my product could definitely be beneficial with the correct and most efficient implementation. 

16A

I think that the things that make me most unique are my positivity, my drive to create change, and communication skills. My past experiences have allowed me to grow and develop these and that is something I hope to continue. 

My Stepdad: My stepdad highlighted my communication skills. This was unsurprising to me as he and I frequently work on writing projects together

My mom: My mom noted my memory and ability to make people feel special as something specific to me. She also noted my passion and positivity. 

Francis: Francis explained that my ability to motivate others is one of my strongest traits. Like my mom, she also highlighted how I am a passionate person

Jessica: Jessica has known me for years and noted my attention to detail. I thought this was interesting as my mom said something very similar.

Tyler: Tyler talked about how hard I try to stay positive. This is something we talk about a lot so I thought it was nice that he mentioned that. 

I have to agree with what my friends and family members said about what makes me unique. I had not really thought of my ability to memorize things such as birthdays and holidays as such a positive trait that makes people feel special so I thought it was nice that that was mentioned. This is something I would add to my list in part 1.

https://soundcloud.com/megan-wordell-79051200/interviews

https://soundcloud.com/megan-wordell-79051200/megan-interview-1

https://soundcloud.com/megan-wordell-79051200/megan-interview-2

14A

1. I have developed a sense of innovation and perseverance in this course. When choosing a topic for my main entrepreneurship venture, I really had to think out of the box and find solutions to various issues that were important to me. I learned perseverance when I was swamped with homework this semester and kept working hard, knowing it would pass.
2. I felt like giving up this semester after a health related emergency. I had to miss several days of class and fell behind in these assignments. Unfortunately I was unable to make things up on time and it was frustrating. However, I knew that I had to keep pushing forward or things would just get worse. I feel like I am getting closer to becoming tenacious.
3. Three tips I would give students in this class would be to work ahead so you don’t get overwhelmed, choose a topic you’re passionate about to make the work fun, and always ask for help when you need it. 

13A

1) You read about an entrepreneur: I chose to read about Steve Jobs in “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson

• What surprised you the most? I was most surprised about the way they chose the name of the company! Apple is such a seemingly random specific name so hearing the back story to that was really interesting.

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? A quote in the book really stuck out to me: the people who are crazy enough to change the world are the ones who do. This spirit of perseverance and determination to make the world a better place is most inspiring to me.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? Honestly I do not think there is any quality I don’t admire about Steve Jobs!

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Steve Jobs is the perfect example of an entrepreneur who while did not find success every time, was able to grow from failures and bring projects to fruition. When faced with brutal competition he continued to persevere and ultimately that is how he found his eventual success 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? I absolutely admire his drive to succeed and his perseverance when faced with challenges and competition.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. I have actually read this book before! While it has been a few years since I first read it, I didn’t really find Jobs’ story to be confusing. Everything was fairly straightforward and interesting to read.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? I would first ask him if there was ever a time that was so difficult he did not think his business would make it. Secondly, I would ask him about how he found balance working such a successful career.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? He absolutely supported the efforts of hard work and knew that that was the only way to succeed. I 100% share this opinion.

12A

The segment that I believe would benefit most from my product is someone from a rural county. I chose to interview several people from nearby rural counties including Bradford and Levy counties, both of which are only approximately half an hour to an hour away from UF. I found that most interesting because of the abundance of options we have so close to campus compared to food deserts in rural counties only a short drive away. I have recently taken a trip to Levy county for my introduction to health disparities class, so I was familiar with the options or namely the lack of options for affordable, accessible healthy fruits and vegetables, but it was very interesting to hear about what it was like to actually live there. My interviewees described rural life as a simple one, with only a few convenience stores and what seems like more churches than houses. They described the landscape as very open with sometimes miles of space between houses. 

After conducting these interviews I can conclude that there is definitely a need for more accessible and affordable healthy options in rural areas. It would be important to establish a proper schedule for the portable farmers market in order to ensure accessibility for the ideal consumer 

11A

1. Hey ENT friends! My name is Megan Wordell and I am a rising junior in the Innovation Academy majoring in Political Science and Journalism with minors in Innovation and Sociology. A few of my talents include trying to be funny on Twitter, political organizing, and most of all I can eat a whole jar of frosting in one sitting! My more comical skills and experiences probably won’t be very useful in this project but they help me make light of more serious issues, such as the one my project is based around. While I don’t know my specific aspirations, helping people in some aspect of their life is very important to me and I think my values of empathy and compassion will really come through in this. 

 I am offering a stable source of affordable, healthy, and most importantly accessible foods to customers in rural food deserts 

My ideal customer is someone, perhaps a family, living in a rural area, with a shortage of access to local health options. I am mainly focused on fulfilling these needs in food desert areas.

Customers will care because this is a cost effective way for them to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

I think a few of my core competences include my professional communication skills and strong leadership style. I have had the chance through group projects in the past to expand upon both of these and it has really shaped the way I collaborate. Additionally, a few of my core values include empathy and compassion, both of with are related to helping the needs of others 

I feel that all of these competencies, skills, ideas, and values, will all mesh well together with my project topic. My work in politics and passion for humans rights issues is also directly related to this assignment; I learned about food deserts in one of my sociology classes, and it was the main source of a lot of my research for this project. I will be able to combine my passions for these issues with the skills I have gained in other works to bring this project to fruition.

Elevator Pitch 1

9A: Fighting Health Disparities and Food Deserts

Who: This innovation would help people living in food deserts in rural counties. However, people that never leave their house would not be able to access the portable farmers markets as they would be at particular events. Additionally, since there are so many churches in several Florida rural counties, I would have the markets often form there. If people do not attend these services, they would not be able to access this particular one. 

What: This innovation would attack a lack of access to fresh, healthy, and convenient foods and food sources. Its purpose is to change this in order to fight rural health disparities. Other factors including health literacy also play a part in these disparities, which would not be impacted by this nonprofit

Why: differing underlying causes could be a lack of education, choice to live a rural lifestyle, live on a farm and have access to ingredients

Inside the boundary	Outside the boundary
Who is In: Rural residents who attend community events	Who is Not: urban poor, rural residents not active in community
What the Need Is: access to fresh ingredients in food deserts	What the Need Is Not: helping with affordability specifically
Why the Need Exists: lack of accessibility and grocery stores	Alternative Explanations: choice to live rural lifestyle

8A

Problem: Food Deserts. In 2009 2.3 million Americans lived over a mile form a supermarket and did not own a car, severely limiting their access to fresh, healthy foods. “Food deserts” have significant impacts on health and contribute to health disparities, specifically in rural communities 

Solution: a nonprofit type farmers market that brings food to main community buildings such as churches once a week after services 

Assignment 7

1. The issue I would like to focus my innovations on is increasing safety on campus and preventing campus sexual assault. This is a serious problem on UF’s campus as well as campuses around the country.

Who: students 

What: creating mechanisms to prevent campus sexual assault 

Why: to increase safety 

Testing the who: I believe that many other students feel the same way about this issue

Testing the what: I believe that creating mechanisms including the blue light emergency system on fraternity row would positively impact this

Testing the why:  I find that students would be positively impacted by the increase of safety measures 

Post Interviews: after talking with friends who are more involved in Student Government than I am, it is apparent that this has been an issue people have tried to combat in the last few semesters. There are no blue light emergency poles on fraternity row and many students are concerned about this 

Assignment 6

1. Rising costs of education 

Education is known to end poverty, but this comes at a cost. Sociologist Sarah Goldrick Rab writes about the rising cost of higher education and issues of education inflation that make it necessary to gain higher forms of schooling. I see this in my own life and in that of me peers.

2. The minimum wage:

Initially started during the New Deal Era, the minimum wage was instituted as a protection system for workers. However, as it is not adjusted for current rates of inflation, the minimum wage becomes less livable as time goes on. At the same time, businesses are used to paying workers a certain amount, and raising the wage too quickly or too drastically could cause negative economic effects. I have seen the opportunity as a minimum wage worker myself in the past

3. Evictions

Harvard Sociologist Matt Desmond estimates that 2.3 million people were involved in eviction cases in 2016. Additionally 1/4 families in the United States are considered rent burdened. Possible solutions are discussed in public policy debates nationwide. I have seen this need in some of my sociology classes and have discussed many solutions the last few months. 

4. Food Deserts 

In areas with a lower socioeconomic status there is a severe lack of availability when it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables. I have learned about this need through classes and this is an issue that severely impacts Alachua County Residents  

5A – Identifying Local Opportunities

“Duval, St. Johns counties issue water conservation notices” 

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190531/duval-st-johns-counties-issue-water-conservation-notices

Hot temperatures, even before the month of June, are causing an extremely high demand for water services in Duval and St. John’s Counties.This is a problem for both the residents of these counties and companies like JEA. The result is regulated days for sprinkler use in order to conserve water in the most efficient manner. 

“World Health Organization defines ‘burnout’ as an official diagnosis”

https://www.jacksonville.com/zz/lifestyle/20190528/world-health-organization-defines-burnout-as-official-diagnosis

Everyday Americans are impacted by a sense of “burnout” and it is been deemed an official diagnosis. Workers stuck in a loop experience mental distance and stress when doing the same tasks every day 

“On the Road: Biking a deadly pastime in Florida”

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190531/on-road-biking-deadly-pastime-in-florida

Issues of safety are severely impacting Floridians who frequently ride their bikes on main roads. Fatalities are most frequent in Florida. Possible safety changes could be creating better sidewalk access and greater space in bike lanes.

“Jacksonville Beach mailman spends days off cleaning veterans’ headstones”

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190526/jacksonville-beach-mailman-spends-days-off-cleaning-veterans-headstones

To solve issues concerning the cleanliness of headstones, a Florida man spent his memorial day trying to beautify a cemetery. Coming from a military family himself, he wanted to pay his respects on the holiday weekend.

“Record floods breach Arkansas levee, overtop 2 in Missouri”

https://www.jacksonville.com/ZZ/news/20190531/record-floods-breach-arkansas-levee-overtop-2-in-missouri

Due to issues with heavy rainfall, Arkansas residents are proposing solutions to the increased flooding.