Pushing Through

Yesterday will hopefully be the most boring day of my project, but a necessary day. I sat at my computer trying to figure out the difference between polycarbonate and polyurethane, at the same time looking up almost every other word trying to grasp how they actually work. I did this to become familiar with the material. I know that the cases are made from plastic, but I had no idea what went into the plastics and how the plastics were made. Quite honestly it still is very confusing. I also started sketching out case designs based on what people said they liked the best. The majority like sleek cases, but also need protection, and would put protection before looks. With that, I created two designs. One design is actually a case, and the other is more of a holder that is still protective, but a phone with a case on it could go inside.

Even though I learned a great deal about plastics, what stuck with me the most was an article I read about businesses. In the Small Business section of the Wall Street Journal was the article, “How to Come Up with a Great Idea”. The article’s main focus is that there are ideas everywhere-but there isn’t passion everywhere. What stuck out to me was the section, “Look at What’s Bugging You”, because that is exactly how I decided that I wanted to create an cell phone case. I was used to having a flip phone that I could fold over my athletic shorts when I was out and about and didn’t have pockets, but now that I have an iphone there is no convenient place to put it unless I want to carry a purse or allow it to get gross on the inside of my waistband. There’s also a section “You’re Never Too Old”, but there should also be one for you’re never too young. Before the year started I thought up my idea for a cell phone case, but never acted on it because I was stuck in the 17-year old mindset that I couldn’t be in the real world yet. After just a few days of taking the entrepreneurship class, I realized that there is no age limit for an idea, as long as you know how to act on it. On a low day of boring research, reading the article was exactly what I needed because it boosted my drive and brought back my desire to fight through all of the boring but necessary steps and solve a problem.

To read the article that I read, click here: online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324445904578283792526004684.html