Chelsea Orcutt

I’m currently sitting at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport waiting to kick off what I’m sure will be the most incredible spring break I’ve ever had.

I’m so grateful to be part of the Syracuse University School of Information Studies Spring Break in Silicon Valley trip. I’ll be touring major companies, startups and venture capital firms with 14 other students. I’ve been talking about this trip for months, and I really can’t believe it’s finally here.

One of the major reasons I applied for the trip was the curriculum I’m developing for implementation in girls’ schools in the developing world. My work with She’s the First has opened my eyes to the importance of girls’ education, and I firmly believe that with the right resources and mindset, girls in third world countries are fully capable of starting innovative, sustainable businesses.

I’m fascinated by startup culture and entrepreneurship in general, so I’m searching for a way to take the essential elements of starting a business in the U.S. and adapt them to the economic climate of the developing world. By the end of this trip, I hope to have a firmer grasp of what it takes to start a company in America, and gain a bit of insight into the related struggles and successes from new and established entrepreneurs. From there, I’ll continue to develop the business/entrepreneurship curriculum for a course that can be taught in some of She’s the First’s partner schools.

Of course, I plan to have fun too. It’s my first time in California and our group is visiting some truly amazing companies (ie. Google, LinkedIn…is this real life?!). We’ll be networking with Syracuse alumni and the iSchool Board of Directors that helped make this trip possible.

Plus, I have to admit that I’m pretty excited to see what all the In-N-Out Burger hype is all about.

I’ll be blogging throughout the week, so stay tuned! Follow #SBinSV on Twitter or at http://live.sbinsv.com/.