In the past few weeks I have come to the realization that my life is moving far quicker than I had imagined it to be. It seems like just yesterday that I entered high school, when in fact I am a rising senior. Senior year marks a stressful time in which thousands of diligent students fill out college applications that will decide where they will spend their next four years. The period in between application submission and admissions decision is one of high stress and curiosity. Decisions bring either grief or sorrow, but everyone goes their separate ways, making their own paths.

Looking towards my future, I have not yet decided the path that I would look to pursue, but there are a few things I would like to see myself accomplish. Success is in interesting person, in that it is flexible, with each person having a different definition. I view success as being able to carry out my goals, but I can only do so if immerse myself in what it is I’d like to do. Junior year was a year of exploration. I tutored children, I partook in programs throughout NYC in both business and law, and I even worked for a major sporting event. After much exploration, I began to believe that business was a viable option for what I’d like to do with the rest of my life.

With the decision to potentially pursue business, I enrolled in the “Secrets to business success” course. This course sounded really appealing in that it could allow me to understand what it takes to become successful in this field. The program I did involving business was at Credit Suisse in New York City, with tasks including pitching ideas to potential investors. This program did however, only provide a basic introduction and I am still not too familiar with what it takes to be a successful businessman. Another reason in my enrolling in the class was a hope that it could provide a solid foundation in business.

After reading the definitions of both entrepreneur and innovator, I have come to the conclusion that I identify moreso as an entrepreneur. Innovation entails introduction of new ideas, and I am not the most creative person. Entrepreneurship, however, entails organization and management, two skills that I believe I possess, and even use often. I view this class as a tremendous opportunity in helping me figure out what I’d like to do later in life. As of now, I see myself studying business, or something related in college. As for further down the line, I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be doing but I hope that I do not stray from my desire to work in business.

Nicholas Pustilnik is a rising senior at Stuyvesant High School, who is involved in a variety of activities, both in and outside of school. Looking at in school involvements, Nicholas is heavily involved in athletics. He is the captain of the boy’s tennis team, manager of the girl’s tennis team, and a member of the boy’s table tennis team. He is an active user of social media, especially in both the Stuyvesant Study Society, and the Jewish Student Union as the outreach chair and director of communications, respectively. One of his most significant involvements is taking part in the Big Sib Program, where he acts as a mentor to incoming freshman at his high school. Outside of school, Nicholas has had some job experience. He has spent the past four summers tutoring children in core classes, particularly mathematics. In 2016, Nicholas also worked as a ballboy in a major sporting event. Nicholas has also had some volunteer experience. He interned as a clerical assistant at a law firm, where he did filing and paperwork. He is also part of Chabad CTeen, a group that gives back to the community through humanitarian projects. Nicholas is highly proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, as well as in HTML and CSS. He is fluent in Russian and has a basic knowledge of Spanish. He will begin his college career in the fall of 2018, where he is looking to study business.

Yes, I allow my Make A Difference Portfolio to be used as an exemplar- Nicholas Pustilnik 7/3/17

According to the Wheel of Life Diagram, the six elements I identify with a balanced life are my health, willpower, relationships(family and friends), pursuit of knowledge, hobbies, and my Dream in Progress.

Health- encompasses both physical and mental health. I am least satisfied with my health out of the six elements.

Willpower- This involves my ability to understand what must be done.

Relationships- I spend a lot of time with both my family and friends, and they are extremely important in my life.

Pursuit of Knowledge- My desire to want to learn. Without seeking knowledge, how can you grow as an individual?

Hobbies - It is important that you never lose sight of who you are and do what you enjoy.

Dream in Progress- This is my purpose and practically what I’m working towards.

In moving forward on my journey, I must be mindful that there needs to be a balance between the six elements, and that focusing more time on one of the elements might cause others to suffer. The Wheel of Life Diagram is constantly changing, but I would eventually like to see all six elements as close to perfect as possible.

Looking at my Board of Advisors Diagram, I only pinpointed people that could help me today, and not necessarily in the future. In order to move forward, I’d like to incorporate people that have had success in business, as well as those who are knowledgeable in law and can help manage my legal issues. In terms of law, I could turn to my father’s friends, some of whom practice law,, and others who own firms. One such person that I’d like to add to my network is my father’s friend, Steve Krishtul. Mr. Krishtul specializes in wealth management and asset protection for individual clients. As a friend of my father’s, I have a natural tendency to trust that he is good at what he does. Looking towards the future, Mr. Krishtul can act as a mentor in my goal of owning my own firm.

There are some people, however, who I’d love to have in my network, but they’d be a bit more difficult to reach, but not impossible with the usage of social media. One such person I’d like to have in my network is Donald Trump. Despite his being controversial, Donald Trump is the leader of the free world, and yields a tremendous amount of power. He is also a real estate mogul, with a great deal of experience in business. One more person I’d love to have in my network is Bill Gates. Gates is one of the richest men in the world, a famed entrepreneur, who exhibited his interest in computers at 13 years old. Through technological innovation, keen business strategy and aggressive business tactics, he and partner Paul Allen built the world's largest software business, Microsoft.

Contact Info

Steve Krishtul email: stevekr18@gmail.com, linkedin: Steve V. Krishtul, phone number (courtesy of my father)

Donald Trump- Twitter: @realDonaldTrump, write or call the white house, facebook @DonaldTrump

Bill Gates- Twitter @BillGates, write to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, email: billg@microsoft.com

The first thing I took away from the reading was what the Startup Activity Index is and how it is measured. The Startup Activity Index is a measure of a broad range of startup in the United States, and is the earliest documentation of new business development across the country. The Startup Activity Index captures activity along three dimensions: the rate of new entrepreneurs, the opportunity share of new entrepreneurs, and the startup density.

Another thing I took away from the reading was the actual calculation of the Startup Activity Index. Each of the three dimensions is normalized by subtracting the mean and dividing by the standard deviation, essentially finding the Z score. This creates a comparable scale that includes all three measures.The method is normalized in all three geographic levels-national,state, and metropolitan areas, with data taken annually for comparability and consistency.

One more thing I took away from the Startup Index was the fact that it has several advantages over other possible measure of entrepreneurship data. This index focuses on two distinct pieces of data, one based on individuals, and one based on people. In terms of Rate of New Entrepreneurs and Opportunity Share of New Entrepreneurs, there are four advantages. One of them is the fact that the CPS data becomes available only a couple months after the end of the year, whereas relatively timely data takes more than a year to be released. In terms of startup density, there are also four advantages.Based on the data garnered through business operations, it covers all the population and eliminates any possible sampling issues.

If I were to start a business, I would most likely start it in New York as it ranked fairly high on the Startup Activity Index. New York City also has a mix of industries, as well as an intermingling of diverse individuals. The main reason for my choice, however, is the fact that I am familiar with the state and already have a basic network of people to call upon.

My three themes from the “Student Self-Understanding as the Foundation for Entrepreneurial” Activity are communication, leadership, and confidence . Communication is reflected in my resume under various subcategories. I am the outreach chair of the Stuyvesant Study Society which entails promoting the club. I am also the director of communications in the Jewish Student Union, which entails promotion and organization of events. Leadership can also be seen in various subcategories of my resume. I am the captain of the boy’s tennis team, and am also the manager of the girls tennis team, both of which involve guiding and helping a group of people. Confidence is also seen in my resume, but not to the same extent as the other two qualities. In being a tutor and participating in a mentorship program(Big Sib), I exhibit confidence in myself and the belief that I can help others. Overall, my three themes are shown in my resume.

After reading the “Entrepreneurship Education Known Worlds and New Frontiers” article and reviewing the table, cognition world is the best way to describe how I learn best. The cognition world pays attention to different things, including the decision to become an entrepreneur and how to understand that decision, and more importantly explores the question: how do people think entrepreneurially. It is also a world that recognizes the importance of the mind and the dynamic approach to learning how to think entrepreneurially I definitely do see myself as living in a world of thinking, and then acting. I also value the need to make decisions prior to engaging in entrepreneurial activity. In fact, each of the subcategories under the cognition world apply far more to how I learn best, than do the subcategories under different worlds.