Students fleshed out their business plans in Introduction to Enterprise, using visual mapping strategies to consider sources of competition, target markets, and how to achieve cultural sensitivity in their enterprises. There were almost no clear surfaces to be found in the classroom once students were done, as walls and tables alike were covered in colourful post-its and flip-chart sheaves detailing the students’ thinking processes and strategic plans. Students’ efforts will culminate in a Dragon’s Den-style pitch to their teachers and classmates later this week.
When lessons were done for the day, students headed into Oxford for some free time, or stayed in St Hugh’s to play table tennis or catch up on homework. Evening activities brought team-building opportunities, as students were tasked with finding their way through obstacle courses fully blindfolded, with only the guiding words of their team-mates to aid them. Then, students graduated to construction, for which they were presented with spaghetti, string, tape, and marshmallows, and instructed to construct the tallest free-standing tower that they could. There were some creative-thinkers in the group―as well as some corner-cutters―but the winners’ tower stood proud at around a metre tall, modelled on the famous Eiffel Tower.