Find your Inner Swashbuckler

Class Details:

Class Number: EAEP 101
Credits:  2

Location: Dinsdale Learning Commons, East Campus

Class Description: 

We believe every person is born with a unique purpose they are meant to fulfill. Engler 101 is about seeking that purpose in your own life and determining (with guidance from your peers and Engler staff) how entrepreneurship may fit with that purpose. You’ll also learn about the Engler program, including our distinct culture and mindset.

The Engler mindset means holding a specific outlook of the world that is creative and problem-solving, where obstacles become possibilities. Recognizing current problems as potential opportunities is one hallmark of this mindset, as is understanding that building something of your own is a worthy pursuit. 

Like all Engler courses, this is not the typical college class. Students should expect an experience unlike any other college course or program: no exams, rules or pre-requisites. Drop the traditional-style lectures, dump the rubrics and nix the mindless busy-work. This class is about figuring out who you are and how entrepreneurship can take you places.

Week by week, Engler Director Tom Field will lead you on a journey of discovery, teaching you to approach any situation from the perspective of a swashbuckler — a heroic idealist who is daring enough to embrace the adventure and risk associated with a great undertaking.

Our goal with this course is to help you experiment with entrepreneurship and to provide an accurate vision of the entrepreneurial journey: the joys, hardships, successes and sacrifices. If entrepreneurship is what you want to do, you’ll be inspired to go the distance.

In this class, you will hear stories of great entrepreneurs and their experiences. Not necessarily the Hollywood elites, like the Mark Zuckerbergs or Jeff Bezoses. More along the lines of real-life enterprise builders like the coffee enthusiasts behind Normal Roasting Company in Central Nebraska.

What do you want to do with your college years? What makes something worthwhile? What are your strengths? Your values? What makes you, you? How can you use those things in entrepreneurship? You don’t need all the answers today. This course simply helps you ask and pursue the questions.

 If the idea of independence, building something of your own or starting a business appeals to you, register for EAEP 101. You’ll gain exposure to what entrepreneurship means, how to think in an entrepreneurial way and how entrepreneurship may be able to further your purpose, whatever that purpose may be.

 Maybe you haven’t thought much about purpose, mission or where you want your life to go. That’s okay — now is a great time to start. Begin to ask yourself what you’re meant to do. Would starting a business or running an enterprise help you achieve that mission? Entrepreneurship can be a powerful vehicle toward purpose, and this course opens the door to that possibility.

“This class changed the way
I think about my career”

– Jake P.

You’ll leave this class with:

  • A mindset that challenges assumptions and looks for opportunities. 
  • An understanding of the Engler community and the benefits it provides. 
  • A consideration of your true north and the key anchors that will guide your decisions. 
  • Exposure to the vehicle of entrepreneurship and enterprise building.  
  • A sturdy rudder to steer you towards your unique purpose.

Take this class if: 

  • You don’t have a good grasp on what motivates you. 
  • You aren’t sure what to do for a career. 
  • You have an interest in entrepreneurship or starting an organization. 
  • You are interested in joining the Engler Program.
  • You have a desire to be challenged. 

Instructor Tom Field

Tom Field is the captain of the Engler pirate ship and the facilitator for the Engler Mindset class. Tom is a lifelong entrepreneur and career educator. His roots run deep both in the livestock world and rural entrepreneurship field, but he’s a person who can fit into any room and provide feedback in a wide variety of industries. He’s a masterful storyteller and loves to mentor and challenge students. You might hear him yell and see him tear up in the same class period. Most students would describe him as a professor that challenges the way you think, empowers you to move and cares deeply about your individual success. You’ll find him in Dinsdale 201AF drinking cheap black coffee and sporting well-worn cowboy boots.

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