There is a guy on the campus of Grove City College that everyone needs to meet. His name is Kellan. He’s a freshman computer science major from New Hampshire. Kellan is a pretty dorky guy, but in a really good way. He enjoys playing video games on his computer, but he also loves to go out and play Frisbee with friends. He procrastinates from time to time, but he is an extremely diligent student.
Kellan is also someone who constantly creates, tinkers, and designs. He has fused chess, checkers, and his own flavor into a game he calls Tegen (and it’s a ton of fun). The other night he told me about a spaceship he was designing in a program that assumes completely different laws of physics then what we have in our physical world. Like almost every college student, he procrastinates a bit. However, when he puts off doing computer programming homework, he programs something that he envisions and thinks would be cool.
While his tendency to tinker is a defining part of who he is, Kellan’s most relevant characteristic is the fact that he is not an entrepreneurship major. He isn’t somebody who possesses a passion for creating businesses that solve problems; rather, he’s somebody who simply loves to solve problems. People think about entrepreneurship majors and entrepreneurs as miraculously creative people that exhibit a greater capacity for thinking differently than most others. Anybody who isn’t an entrepreneurship major can still be creative, just not in the same way as an entrepreneurship major.
What entrepreneurship really is, is a big word that makes you sound cool. Don’t get me wrong- I’m an entrepreneurship major, and I love it. As a wee freshman I can already see the way my mind is changing to understand problem solving in a business context. However, in getting to know others around campus, I’m seeing the way people express their own individuality and creativity outside of business. That creativity is just as exciting as new business ventures.
In fact, people express their creativity all around campus all the time. Expression of creativity takes place on stage when a saxophone soloist audibly manifests emotion. It takes place on the rugby pitch with a stellar defensive play, for which only one keen back saw the opportunity. It takes place in prison ministry when someone with a special heart for people can find the words of encouragement that a discouraged inmate needs to hear. It can happen in biology class, the cafeteria, and, yes, the most obvious place for inspiration- the bathroom.
The Bottom Line:
Innovation can happen, and does happen, inside all of us. We are designed by a magnificent God, Elohim, Creator. We are created in His image endowed with his characteristics. Therefore, we too are creators. Do what you have been designed to do. Think outside the box. Solve problems. Heck, I’m writing about Kellan because he got tired of solving real-world problems, so he designs spaceships in make-believe worlds that don’t make sense to less imaginative people like me.
Is business one way to express creativity? Absolutely! Does the entrepreneurship major at Grove City College equip you to do that? Absolutely! Does that take anything away from anybody else’s capacity to create? Absolutely not! Innovate like you’ve never innovated before, giving all the glory to God, and be thankful that you have a unique perspective that gives you the ability to create things this world has never seen.