Megan Anderson, an entrepreneurship major at the University of Delaware, pitched at Horn Entrepreneurship’s Spring Pitch Party, earning second place. The first-year student said Horn’s programs for high school students inspired her to attend UD.

Finding purpose through entrepreneurship

Article by Horn Entrepreneurship staff Photos by Maria Errico June 25, 2025

Horn Entrepreneurship programs help first-year student discover college — and a calling

As a high school senior, Megan Anderson wasn’t planning on college. Her sights were set on earning a real estate license and heading straight into the workforce. But one course changed everything, and now, as a first-year student at the University of Delaware, she’s not only majoring in entrepreneurship, she’s helping other students find their own paths.

“I didn’t think college was for me,” Anderson said. “But Horn showed me a different path.”

That path began at Mt. Pleasant High School in Wilmington, Delaware, where Anderson enrolled in EntreX Lab, a year-long entrepreneurship program offered by UD’s Horn Entrepreneurship. The course helps high school students develop agile thinking and creative problem-solving skills to navigate rapid change.

By the time she completed the program, she had developed a business concept Alertify, a mobile app designed to alert travelers to serious crimes near their destination. Her project didn’t advance in Horn’s Diamond Challenge, a global entrepreneurship competition for high school students. But the experience sparked something bigger.

“I saw what entrepreneurship really is — it’s not just starting a business, it’s solving problems in meaningful ways,” she said. “That realization completely changed my mindset. It made me want to go to college. It made me want to be at UD.”

Anderson volunteered at the Limitless World Summit — giving back to the program that transformed her path and inspired her to pursue college.

Now a student in UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, Anderson works part-time for Horn Entrepreneurship and participates in multiple programs, including VentureOn, which supports student startups. Last summer, she studied abroad in Thailand, exploring social entrepreneurship and disability studies.

“I’ve learned that entrepreneurship isn’t a one-size-fits-all journey,” she said. “It can take you places you never expected.”

One of those places was the Limitless World Summit, where Anderson recently volunteered more than 20 hours helping to support hundreds of high school students from around the world. Hosted by Horn Entrepreneurship in May at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington, the summit welcomed more than 500 students and chaperones from 18 U.S. states and 19 countries for two days of venture pitches, keynotes, workshops and community-building.

The summit builds on over a decade of success with the Diamond Challenge and reflects a broader vision developed by Charlie Horn, the entrepreneur and philanthropist whose support established Horn Entrepreneurship in 2012. Designed to expand access to youth innovation education, the event offered students a chance to earn more than $100,000 in awards and connect with a global network of changemakers.

Charlie Horn, founder of Horn Entrepreneurship, welcomed 500 young changemakers to the Limitless World Summit, celebrating their innovation, leadership and commitment to building a better world.

For Anderson, helping make the event possible was a full-circle moment.

“It reminded me why I’m here and how far I’ve come,” she said. “I saw myself in so many of those students — the uncertainty, the excitement, the curiosity. And I wanted to help create for them what Horn created for me.”

Anderson’s story exemplifies the transformative, long-term impact of Horn Entrepreneurship's programs, said Dan Freeman, founding director and associate professor at UD.

“Megan embodies the spirit of Horn,” Freeman said. “She didn’t just discover a new direction — she’s helping to make a better, brighter future for others.”

As she looks ahead, Anderson is focused on continuing to learn, build and give back.

“I want to leave a mark — on people, on communities, on ideas,” she said. “And I want others to know that no matter where you start, you’re capable of doing something bigger than you imagined.”