Five students from the AUS Office of Student Affairs' Student Leadership Program (SLP) took part in the Sharjah Startup Winter Camp organized by Ruwad Establishment, held December 20, 2012-January 3, 2013. 

Following on the success of the Startup Summer Camp Sharjah in Summer 2012, Startup Winter Camp Sharjah introduced more entrepreneurship opportunities for university students. The competition granted entrepreneurs the experience of owning a business by allowing them to create an idea and illustrate it in a form of a product or service. They were given the opportunity to sell and market their items in various locations in Sharjah. The main objective of the camp was to encourage students to invest their intelligence and develop their entrepreneurial skills by giving them the support to ripen their ideas to actual reality and to connect university students with commercial activities happening in the Sharjah community.

This year's Sharjah Startup Winter Camp was held at three locations: Sahara Centre, Al Majaz Waterfront and Al Qasba.

"My group consisted of three AUS students and we chose the Al Majaz Waterfront as a place for our startup idea: a ladies' accessories shop," said Nadia Al Safi, a finance major. "Every day we met new people and built connections that will be useful in the long run. We also met people from different countries with different tastes and demands, which made it challenging for us to persuade them to buy our accessories. We were also able to apply what we learned at AUS: how to choose our targeted segment; pricing; advertising; keeping a record of costs, revenues and profits; and making a marketing plan. Finally, the monetary reward from running the business, plus the amount the winning teams get, was a great incentive as well."

"Participating in the Sharjah Startup Winter Camp was a new experience for me and my partner, Eman Al Amiri. We implemented techniques that we studied in our major in real life. This experience has taught us how to deal with customers, market products and manage tasks," said Futoon Aljassim, a student majoring in business management.

"Sharjah Startup Winter Camp is among the many entrepreneurship events that SLP students underwent this year. Through their participation, we aim to inspire students and teach them the tricks of business for them to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and become more accountable, and learn how to make the right decisions. Being in a competition requires dedication and commitment on behalf of the students and we are pleased with AUS students that managed to run their businesses throughout the winter camp," said Dr. Moza Al Shehhi, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.