Editor’s Note: How can you tell a future entrepreneur from the masses? They are often the restless ones. They bounce from one thing to another, seemingly never satisfied with how things are and looking to improve… stuff.

It’s the hunger within. And Matt’s story illustrates that well.

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When I initially think of a hustler, I think of someone stealing cars, slinging drugs and fighting thugs – thankfully, I don’t think that’s quite what you’re looking for in this piece. Urban Dictionary defines a ‘hustler’ as “someone who knows how to get money from others,” and personally, without sounding narcissistic, I think you’re reading the right essay response.

I’m not going to bore you with why I think I should win, but I will share with you some stories and insight into my life – to briefly show you that without knowing it, deep down, I am indeed a hustler.

I guess it all began in primary school, where my inner ambition was truly shaped and crafted – let’s just say that I was the one selling the rare shiny Pokémon cards that my relatives had bought cheap whilst travelling through Japan. I was the one who made the most money in the year six fair with a lolly-guessing stall, which no one ended up guessing correctly – so I ate them all.

I was the one who, in after school care, would design and draw huge machines, with pulleys, tubes and conveyer belts, which would help Mum do the simplest of tasks, like prepare breakfast or wash the laundry. Of course, these machines would never work, but I think it was the initiative behind it that counts here.

For my eighteenth birthday, Granny offers me $1,000 to spend however I see fit. I spend it on an outdoor party marquee, laser lighting, strobe light, smoke machine, sound system, and what ever else is left I spend on food and alcohol for what is set to be the party of the year. I come from a small coastal town; no one even knows what a laser light or smoke machine is.

The clean up was strenuous, but the reviews were all five stars. I was one of the older kids in my year at school, so I can spot an emerging market – I have a whole cohort of friends who are soon turning eighteen, meaning they too will want to have a raging celebration! I code up a small website, make up some flimsy business cards, and rent out my party equipment to whoever wants to hire it

Within a year I have profited, been invited to every party in the area, and to this day have people remind me about how my equipment truly made their night special. I really should reimburse Granny.

Once year twelve is complete, I make the move up to the city to further my studies – and by studies, I mean university parties. I have no desire to work; I do, however, have a desire for extra cash in my pocket in whatever way comes easiest. Luckily this tale doesn’t stray towards any form of selling myself; instead it is the selling of festival tickets.

I had a whole network of friends from the South Coast, and, now living in student accommodation, cha ching, I was selling the tickets like hotcakes. I earned around five dollars per ticket sold, and after selling a certain amount scored myself a free admission ticket. This, for me, was probably the easiest way to make quick cash – soon enough everyone else realized this, and now every second person you walk past in the street is a ticket distributor or promoter.

I was recently browsing the Internet when I came across some form of visual refraction eyewear glasses; they were promoted towards festival-goers, stating that the euphoric visuals would be an incredible experience. I thought it seemed exciting, so I sent the American company an email – something along the lines of being interested in wholesaling them in Australia, and asked if they could send a couple to me to test out and research whether punters were interested.

Without hesitation, they did. I took them to a music festival; during the day no one was really keen, although towards the end of the night I sold all three for eighty dollars to some strange raver girl – thanks for the free money, America.

My unknown inner-ability to hustle shows itself through my entrepreneurial lifestyle. It was only when I got into my third year of university that I realized that there is definitely something ticking in my brain, telling me to be creative, telling me to make something of myself, and to become something – ‘throw me to the wolves and I’ll come out leading the pack.’

If I am sitting in a lecture room looking around, its not because I’m ignoring the lecturer – it’s because I’m envisioning something that could be changed within that environment. Possibly a new method of student attendance recording, whereby students ID are automatically scanned once they walk through the lecture doors, determining an overall semester lecture attendance and comparing this to their final class grade – showing the reasons why they may have failed or why their grade was so spectacular.

In my house, my room mates are constantly pestered, not from the influx of moths and fruit flies (we have them too), but from me – asking if they think this business idea would work, or what if this was done, or do you like this concept. Sometimes the more impossible the idea is, the more possible it may become – because in todays society, what really hasn’t been thought of? In my brain, I could write a long list; I just need to turn these impossible ideas into a reality.

Over the past six months I have been working on my own business concept and proposal. It is something truly revolutionary, and for me it came so simply- all I had to think to myself was, What is something so frustrating in my life that could be done so much better? If it is frustrating for me, then surely it is frustrating for everyone else like me. The idea is already backed for funding, with domestic and international web domains purchased. My only issue is – how do I run my own business?

So each month I attend entrepreneur workshops, and whenever I hear about an entrepreneur conference, I also sign myself up to attend. These are networking gold mines, and I find myself associating with likeminded people who have the same desire to do something with their lives. I was commended at my first entrepreneur workshop for being the youngest person in the room. I was surprised that at twenty-one, there other twenty-one year olds who would want to get the knowledge to start their own business.

So this is me, a twenty-one year old business and information technology student, who honestly isn’t looking for a graduate position working for someone else in a large city firm, and instead aims to be the one in charge, to be the boss, the billionaire, the hustler.