This is an excerpt from an article written by Fatima Muni for Co-operative Education.
Before switching to Enterprise Co-op (E Co-op), Madison had done three co-op work terms.
Originally, she planned to continue with a regular co-op stream, but after suffering a concussion, was unable to continue the rest of her co-op terms. Because of this unexpected change, she decided to look further into E Co-op and give it a shot!
Both Madison and her partner were interested in woodworking. Taking their hobby and Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), they came up with Beaverdam Designs, a business that specializes in handmade home decor products.
What kind of skills did you develop during your E Co-op term and how did they differ from skills developed during a traditional term?
“I’m doing a double degree, and my second degree is in business. So, I think I went into the co-op term a little bit naive thinking that I knew everything I needed to know in business compared to my peers, who probably weren’t. But, in our first week, we had ignition week, and we kind of were given a crash course in entrepreneurship and networking and everything. I actually learned a lot.
I don’t want to tell my business professors this, but that was the most efficient and the most learning that I’ve done probably in my entire business undergrad. It was great to hear a variety of speakers and presentations about their experiences and skills that they’ve applied in the real world and have helped them, as opposed to just theories and concepts in textbooks. They taught us a lot of real technical skills that could actually be applied in the business world, which was great!”
What are the differences between this experience and previous experiences?
“I was very lucky to have three really great co-op jobs prior to this, and I really enjoyed them, but this was definitely a very unique and fascinating experience. It was completely different than all of my standard co-op jobs. I really enjoyed the flexibility of what this E Co-op term provided. The ability to not only just decide on my own daily tasks, but to decide the entire direction that the term would go in was completely up to me.
In the past with my co-op jobs, I've shown up on the first day, and they kind of outline each month of the co-op term. They're gonna say, “Oh, you work towards this project, and you'll be working on this project for your whole co-op term.” But, with E Co-op, the first week we were given the tools and resources to make our own decisions, and then we were left on our own with support if we needed it. We were allowed to decide for ourselves where our time is best spent.
I really enjoyed all of the trust that our work supervisor, Wayne, instilled in all of us to be able to pursue our own ventures how we saw fit.”