Computer Science
- Hometown: Rolling Hills Estates, CA
Biography
My name is Josef Govednik, and I’m a sophomore in the Heath IBEP 2025 cohort. Leadership and engagement opportunity I have held has helped develop me into the person I am today, from leading volunteer groups and participating in honors societies in high school to serving board positions of associations, clubs, and centers in college. From such experiences, I have developed teamwork, communication, coaching, and listening skills needed to succeed in a real-world environment. Creativity, integrity, resiliency, and intelligence are my core strengths. I’ve always had an ambitious soul and am not afraid to challenge the norm, something that sets me apart from my peers. When it comes to academics, my greatest strength has always been math and numbers. Pairing my academic strengths with my ambitious, high-octane personality was what led me to the Heath IBEP Program. I got a taste of the program through my academic advisor and talking with members of older cohorts. With what they told me about the program in mind – real-life problem solving, innovation, development – I applied and was elated when I found out I had been accepted.
Although I’m only a sophomore, I already have a lot of involvement within the university under my belt. My freshman year, I served as the treasurer for the Geier-Robinson Residence Association, allowing me to take my love of numbers and apply it in a community organization. I also was a member of the Entrepreneur’s Club, the Investor’s Group, and the Real Estate Club. In addition to these business clubs, I also pitched from the club baseball team, further teaching me lessons in team bonding, culture creation and curation, work ethic, discipline, mental strength, and focus, among other skills. The program that cemented my case for Heath was the Tennessee Lunabotics Club, a club whose purpose is to build a moon rover for a NASA competition. I served on both the design/fabrication and business teams within Lunabotics, which gave me business, engineering, and community viewpoints when working in an engineering setting. My proudest work done at the university thus far has come in the entrepreneurship center. From developing a start-up to serving as a student ambassador for the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, entrepreneurship has allowed me to grow best in my own skin. My work there has added to what I bring to the Heath IBEP program by looking for solutions that are both innovative and business-friendly.
