4A - Forming An Opportunity Belief

1. I really believe there is an opportunity for a better unbiased education in the United States. One of the biggest things I have come across as a foreign student here is ignorance, and that is not to the fault of the people but rather due to the education that they have received. 
2. I went to an international school in Istanbul and was surrounded by many third culture kids. What I loved about it was everyone came from different cultures and everyone was accepting of different cultures. I personally attribute this to the school system we were in which was the International Baccalaureate program, also known as the IB program. Not only is it a leading education system around the world but it also provides an unbiased education as it is universal. Although there are some IB programs in the States I truly believe there are not enough and would consider it a solution to the unmet need of a better world education in the United States. I believe an unbiased form of education would solve a lot of ignorance in this world. I know it has for me and my classmates in high school. Now I have an American passport and am just as American as I am Turkish, but the realism here is that there is a lack of world education or at least an unbiased one, and it has been like that for years. The IB has slowly tapped the American market to solve this situation but I absolutely believe it needs an even bigger expansion. Now I do not think this can solve every problem of ignorance like that but it is definitely a start. I believe there is a 75% chance that this opportunity exists and can solve some issues.
3. I believe the prototypical customer for this opportunity would clearly be high school students as the IB program is for grades 11 and 12. 
4. For this assignment I interviewed 3 people. One is my friend Zack, who is a former IB student from Florida. The second was my cousin, Defne, who is in high school in Chattanooga. The third was my friends brother, Arda, who is currently an AP student in Virginia. I chose these three specifically because they all offer different perspectives on the matter. Zack is an American who took the IB program. Defne is a Turk who moved from Turkey to Tennessee and is now under an American education system. Arda is a Turkish-American, who has lived in the States his whole life and is currently in the AP system. 
1. When I interviewed Zack, he started off  completely agreeing with me in that many of his friends seem to be ignorant about a lot of things in this world. He also agreed that the IB program gave him a very different view on the world. He mentioned that one of the IB learner profiles is open-mindedness and that was heavily enforced in his education. He agreed that the IB system definitely should be the dominant education system in the United States. It already is in most of the world and if everybody is taught the same things the same way then it might solved a lot of ignorance. He said that he and his parents have very different views and he attributes this to the IB system. He said he was able to know things about Russia and Germany just as well as he knew things in America because of what he was taught and said he feels one step ahead when it comes to world knowledge. 
2. I interviewed Defne over phone and she said she never heard of the IB before. This shows that it still has not developed completely in America. She said her first year was really hard since the only things people knew about Turkey were from media portrayals of our corrupt government and different bombings that happened recently. She said the way she learns about different states here is the way you learn about different countries in Turkey and said it was no surprise why people abroad were more open-minded and knowledgeable of the world outside of their country. She definitely said there is a need for an unbiased education system on the world. It would solve the problem of ignorance and if anything just make people more compassionate, which is a different view point I have not heard. She said that there is an immediate need and said there is literally nothing negative that can come from it.
3. The last person I interviewed was Arda. Arda never experienced the things that me or Defne felt as the only place he really does know is the United States. When I asked him if he ever felt people were ignorant about other countries and if there was a need for an unbiased education, he did not understand at first. I asked him if it bothered him that people would know nothing about his country and assume the worst, and he responded saying that most of them were true. I asked him how do you know that, you have been to Turkey and other parts of Europe many times and he really believed that. His response was that is what he sees on the news and thats what they say in school. He was a living example of why their is a need for an unbiased education. I asked him if they taught anything about the world in his school and he said only AP World History, but he also added it was all in American perspective. When I offered the solution of an IB expansion and told him a little bit about the program, he was quite intrigued. I asked if he thought it would be any benefit at all, and he immediately said realistically yes. He added that a nation like the States where many foreigners migrate to is actually the perfect place for an education system like this. He said it would solve many issues and would make then even more knowledgeable.
5. Overall I was very intrigued by the responses I got while interviewing my three prototypical customers. I only looked at this before in the perspective that the education system would just help people become more knowledgeable about the world. However, after the interviews some of them made me realize that it could lead to more than stopping ignorance, it could actually lead to compassion and solve a lot of internal issues in the nation if kids were educated like this at a much younger age. I did not get a single negative response to this opportunity, which further showed me there is a need for an unbiased education.
6. My original opportunity is very much still alive, and if anything showed it can be expanded. I truly believe that this opportunity can lead to not only less ignorance and more knowledge, but can lead to possible compassion and peace. I believe that it is essential entrepreneurs listen to feedback and adapt their product according to that. With three simple interviews I was able to learn that my selected opportunity can be bigger than I thought it was. There really is know trade-off unless you completely change it. Adapting does not mean changing completely, and in this case I realized I could adapt for the better.