Educational Goals

    I have spent a lot of time determining what I want to do with my life and how I want my education to take me there. I envision a combination of my artistic passion, love for people, and fascination with business. My ultimate goal is to create a business of creative companions to make a difference for the elderly, intellectually disabled, sick, and emotionally disturbed. I will use my experience and expertise to educate my employees in how to use psychology and the arts to help clients. This unique BDIC major will be called Creative Innovation in Business & Human Relations.

    To give my degree that creative edge I will be combining my previous creative experiences with classes such as Self-Reflective Avant Garde Film. I will also be completing an Independent Study using the Nonsense Society website. The Nonsense Society is an international online arts gallery and community I created. Through this website I have made contacts with creative artists from all over the world. I have had vast networking opportunities through the creation of this website. Notably, I have networked with the Creative Director of one of the biggest advertising agencies in Poland. I have also interviewed famous artists such as Zoe Keating who held the #1 spot on iTunes Classical library for some time. Besides networking, I do a lot design for the site and use internet promotion to generate traffic and income. I would like to take these artistic and business experiences and apply them to my degree.

    In my vision I plan on educating employees on how to influence people using their creative talents. In order to do this I will have to have a deep understanding of education. For example, Language & Learning Disabilities, Child Psychology, and Psychology of Aging will help me in understanding clients at differing stages of development and abilities. In addition, classes like Principles of Management and BDIC’s own Entrepreneurship Initiative will  prepare me to run my own business.

Continuing Aims

    The two most important things I want in my professional life are to be my own boss and have complete creative freedom.  Following college I plan on creating a business where my creative ideas help people in need. From there I want to survive as my own boss and have the creative freedom to expand on that business, what is done there, and how it is run. BDIC is the perfect program for me. As far as I am concerned, the BDIC program is filled with the most creative people at UMass Amherst. After all, BDIC students design their own majors. What kind of student could be more creative than that? As for being my own boss, the process of creating a BDIC major involves many of the qualities successful entrepreneurs use every day.

    Upon graduating with my degree in Creative Innovation in Business & Human Relations I plan on creating the Creative Companionship Initiative. This company will provide alternative therapies for people requiring companionship. There will be a thoughtful and extensive matching process so that each client will be doing meaningful activities with a compatible companion. For example, an Occupational Therapist may meet an elderly client and determine that she needs a companion with a certain personality to do music with her. There are many elders and people with special needs who could benefit from these services. Some ideas for creative companionship are music, art, crafts, games, dancing, technology, animals, etc. It is my vision and dream to use the Creative Companionship Initiative to make a difference.

Experiential Background

    All my life I have been trying to affect people with the things I create. When I was a child I would constantly make art and music for people to appreciate. Since then I have tried very hard to improve and share my talents in order to influence people. I attended Music School, performed across Europe, made a film, acted in musicals, started writing a novel, drew many portraits, and learned graphic design in Photoshop. I breathe creativity. Typically, I give all my creations away to people I care about. I want to make people feel something from what I do. I want to change lives whenever I can. I get so passionate about what I do that I tell everyone I can about it. I love to network like a businessman and teach friends and family everything I have learned. All this has lead me to BDIC. If accepted, I plan on using BDIC to focus and hone all my life experiences and education into a future where I can help people and influence the world. Creative Innovation in Business & Human Relations is the perfect combination of disciplines in helping me design my dream business, the Creative Companionship Initiative.

Methods and Procedures

    Creative Innovation in Business & Human Relations will draw from five different departments: Creative Arts, Business, Education, Psychology, and Communication Disorders. Creative Arts will include a diverse insight into Fine Art. More specifically, I will learn about Avant-Garde film techniques and complete an Independent Study in the Creative Arts. This experience in the arts will be vital for when I create a business that incorporates the Creative Arts. I will be looking to the School of Management for classes to educate me as a businessman. Entrepreneurship classes and an Internship with successful entrepreneur, Bruce Warila, will provide perspective on owning and running a business. Classes from the Psychology department will help me to understand the needs of my clients. Meanwhile, Education classes will allow me to convey this knowledge to my employees. Finally, courses from the department of Communication Disorders will give me insight into the types of speech and language disabilities I am likely to encounter when dealing with the elderly and those with special needs.