Hi, I’m Mitchell Schinbein and I am an intern at Impact as part of the Shad Valley program. At Impact, I am working on Impact Tours, a new initiative for the Impact National Conference where delegates  have the opportunity to get outside and visit bustling downtown Toronto where they will be touring businesses and getting an inside peek at the intricacies of running a thriving enterprise.  I am thrilled to work with Impact considering my experience with Impact goes back a few years…

I was in Grade 9, and I know now, that I knew nothing back then. I was always interested in business and entrepreneurship, so I decided to join a few business related clubs – the Junior Achievement (JA) Company Program being one. The JA Company Program is an after school program where you start a business venture with other high school students from your city. You create a product, manufacture it, and sell it.  At JA one night, the mentors announced that the Impact Conference 2007 was happening soon. It sounded interesting, so I applied to attend. I kept on stressing on whether I would be accepted as a delegate, then I got the e-mail of acceptance: I was ecstatic!

The day of the conference arrived and I headed out to Toronto. I registered for the conference at a table, got my cool name tag. I glanced at the itinerary and set out to find the room where the networking session was taking place. After a few wrong turns, I found the room, and walked in. I think I was the only person in the room of about 80 people that wasn’t wearing a suit coat. I quickly took my seat and tried to catch on to what was happening. I found out that the event consisted of standing up and introducing yourself in front of the room. I felt a bit intimidated, keep in mind that the room was filled with a whole bunch of university students wearing formal attire, and here I was, some measly grade 9 (without a suit coat!). I think I actually volunteered to go, just to get it over with. I think I said something about being interested in technology and reading the Economist. The rest of the day was sort of a blur, filled with listening to great speakers, participating in a case competition, and meeting amazing people. I remember talking to a high school student who previously ran a computer repair service, the President of the Robotics Club at the University of Waterloo, a person who worked for the Ministry of Small Business, and many more. Then the Gala came and I got to hear the keynote speaker: Michael Lee-Chin.

Michael Lee Chin

His speech was definitely one of the highlights of the conference for me. He told his story from his humble beginnings to his current status as a billionaire.  His story was filled with many great jokes and he spoke with much passion. The next morning, I arrived down from my room and got breakfast. This being the first formal event I’d ever attended, I made a mistake.  I was walking along the buffet and noticed a whole bunch of white chocolates. White chocolate for breakfast?! How can this conference get any better? I took one and went to sit down and start my breakfast. I picked the white chocolate up and took a bite of it, turns out it was butter! But the day got better from there; I met more great people, and listened to some presentations that I still remember to this day.

I learned a lot from the world-class speakers, met amazing people, had a great time, and learned some valuable lessons (one about distinguishing white chocolate from butter). I have to say that the Impact Conference has opened my eyes to many opportunities (Shad Valley being one) and changed my life for the better. I would highly recommend any secondary or post-secondary student to attend. It is a great networking, learning, and fun experience. Hope to see you there!

-Mitchell Schinbein

Shad Intern

Shad Valley, Queen’s University 2009

Related posts:

1. Introducing the 2009 Shad Valley Interns!
2. Shad Valley Intern Blogging Project
3. 2009 Impact National Conference website is now LIVE!
4. Join the 2010 Impact National Conference team!
5. Impact Social