Sheila Zapata
Staff Writer
Enactus is an entrepreneurial organization that focuses on environmental and sustainability needs on and off of campus. They had been present at FSC for 13 years but had some set-backs because of Covid-19. This year Mikaela Rizzi, a senior International Business Administration major, is leading as president and will be sharing what Enactus’s goal is for the school year, what people will get out of it and all the exciting things they have in store for the FSC community.
Some events you can look forward to from Enactus would be their annual talent show where they plan to raise money for current projects they have in store. Some of these being a trip to Zambia, Africa where they will be helping a primary school called Skylark with electricity and plumbing issues they’ve acquired because of a lack of government funding. So far, they have raised over $20,000 for the school, helping them get new seats, tables and lighting.
There are also environmental projects in mind such as visiting Cyprus National Park to obtain information about the invasive pythons that are eating alligators and hopefully finding a solution to fix that problem. They also plan on doing interactive tabling to talk about sustainability issues once a month. These events are necessary for Enactus because they want people to learn first hand about issues so they have the right information to fix them and gain wisdom on how to support the causes.
“What inspired me to join Enactus was truly seeing the change that they had outside of just our college and outside of just our nation, they’re using entrepreneurial action that we can all find within us,” said Brooke Sommers, a junior and the club’s VP of Recruitment.
Enactus’s main goal is to be able to get their name out to the student body. As they’ve been silent since the pandemic, they want to be able to continue their practice at FSC with future students outside of the business department.
“People think that Enactus is only for business students, which it isn’t, Its much more, ” Rizzi said.
There are so many other aspects to this organization than just business. People in biology, film and graphics can all benefit Enactus as they need people with extensive knowledge in environmental studies and who know how to design and edit for marketing and promotion purposes.
They want to raise money for the projects they hope on doing for this year and to collaborate with other clubs such as the sustainability club and the snorkeling club as their organizations also work with environmental awareness and education.
“I think one of the biggest skills I learned is presenting and educating people in large-scale environments,” Sommers said. “When we were doing our pitch competition, we were competing in front of over 500 people, it teaches you how to be confident, stand up for what you believe in, and the change you want to see in the world.”
The impact Enactus wants to make for this year is to have people think of problems they see either on campus or out in the real world and wanting to fix them. In the past year alone, there have been multiple things that have been going on in our world that have affected people all over the globe.
While it may not be possible to solve every issue immediately, progress begins with small intentional steps. College students, young people building their skills and experiences as they prepare for future careers, are in a unique position to contribute to that change.
“I would say just come to one of our meetings, see what we’re all about,” Sommers encouraged. “No other organization can truly give you the kind of experiences Enactus does. It teaches you important life skills and helps you make lifelong friendships.”
Joining this club could be the first step to fixing a problem that you might see but don’t know where to start. If you would like to be a part of Enactus, they meet weekly on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m in the Becker Business Building. For updates on locations and times, follow their instagram handle at @enactusfsc.
