培养创业精神

If Tony Dickinson ’02 could relive his college years at 皇冠体育, he would make a life-changing move: start his own business.

“I love entrepreneurship, and admire those who have had the courage and risk tolerance to start a business. The creativity and energy that exists at Mount Mercy would’ve been the perfect incubator for me to test and learn.”

"The creativity and energy that exists at Mount Mercy would’ve been the perfect incubator for me to test and learn.”

Though dreams of owning his own business haven’t been realized just yet, Dickinson still feels that his professional experiences have led him to where he’s supposed to be. 他目前担任位于IA Ankeny的NCMIC专业解决方案的首席执行官，在那里他领导的团队专注于帮助NCMIC客户通过提供金融服务来管理自己的业务，从而使他们能够发展，招聘和提高效率。 

在NCMIC任职之前，他曾担任Wells Fargo Bank的副总裁兼营销经理。 2001年，他在Radio Shack开始了自己的职业生涯（当时他还在全日制上学）。 He became Radio Shack’s youngest district manager in company history after only two years, overseeing 47 stores and 250 team members across three states.

狄金森把他个人和职业上的成功归功于他在Mount Mercy遇到的人和他的经历。 “The foundation for my adult life was established at Mount Mercy, and I’m forever grateful for that gift.”

 “The foundation for my adult life was established at Mount Mercy, and I’m forever grateful for that gift.”

他在大学期间参与了自由企业学生组织（Students in Free Enterprise，简称SIFE），现在被称为Enactus，这让他接触到了更广阔的世界，教会了他许多宝贵的技能和经验。

“Tom Castle was instrumental in my success and maturation. 他以积极的态度和对生活的热情以及帮助他人树立了一个令人难以置信的榜样。 Tom also worked with me to find the best internship option, and was flexible with my class scheduling to accommodate my work experiences.”

When not busy helping business owners improve revenue and growth, Dickinson spends time with his family—wife Kim, two sons, and one daughter. “I was pretty emotional when my son hit the game-winning jump shot in the quarterfinals of the first-grade basketball playoffs—and I was his coach.”

Dickinson还担任爱荷华州中部男孩和女孩俱乐部、爱荷华州体育基金会和Mount Mercy校友的董事会成员。 他帮助非营利组织筹集了5000多万美元，主要集中在青年和教育领域。

当他回想起自己在Mount Mercy的时光时，他鼓励未来的毕业生充分利用这所大学提供的一切。

“Don’t sleep on all the opportunity around you. Don’t miss a chance to have a long conversation with a friend because you’re taking a nap. Don’t miss a chance to have coffee with President Hamen because you’re sleeping in. Don’t go to bed early when you could go for a drive with your roommates and explore Cedar Rapids," said Dickinson. "When you walk across the stage on graduation day, I hope you can say, ‘I did it all!’ Mount Mercy is the place where you can do it all."