Bennington College Student - Field Work Term My Journey @ The Lightning Jar

My name is Kunlek Tenzing and I come from Nepal. I am a student at Bennington College. My studies are focused on “Social Entrepreneurship”. I am interested in finding ways on how one can provide a platform for rural farmers to become entrepreneurs. Currently, I am an intern at The Lightning Jar (TLJ). TLJ is an entrepreneurial center in Bennington that provides a coworking space, resources and connections for startups, students, creative minds or anyone who needs help making their business dreams come true.

I started my internship from the 6th of January and I can’t believe how many awesome entrepreneurs I have already met in the last 5 days. All of them are doing amazing work contributing to the local economy of Bennington. I met Kevin (marketing guy) at one of the events ("Joe w/ Jo"), and we had a conversation on different ways to reach different age groups. I met Laurie, a branch manager at VSECU, from whom I learned the values and mission of VSECU in environmental protection, energy efficiency and social goods in Vermont. I also met Kate, a well being psychologist who helps entrepreneurs figure out how to enjoy their work and keep stress manageable. And my mentor Joelle Greenland, director at the Lightning Jar, who took every free second of her time to teach me something new from business planning to leadership skills. 

The Field Work Term of Bennington has given me a wonderful opportunity to be engaged in the real world - it allows me to put my knowledge into actions. It has also helped me to connect myself with the town and increase the sphere of my network with people of similar interests. I am really happy to be part of TLJ and really excited for what's coming next. Stay tuned for next week's post - Week 2!