In the past five weeks, former Hurrdat Social Media intern and recent Lincoln Southeast High School graduate Ethan Horne has moved to New York City, started working 40 hours a week and gained 11 new roommates.

That’s because Horne, a 19-year-old from Lincoln, was recently accepted into the first class of E[nstitute], a national apprenticeship program based in New York City that focuses on business, technology and design.

The two-year program, founded in February, does not require a college degree. It’s first class is comprised of a diverse group of 11 fellows who range in age from 18-24 and hail from nine different states.

E[nstitute] places each fellow with a New York entrepreneur who they then work with and learn from throughout the two years. Horne was matched with entrepreneur Jason Beckerman, who is the co-founder of the marketing firm Unified.

Horne (left) said the reason he decided to apply for E[nstitute] rather than a traditional four-year university is because of the great opportunity he saw there to get real-world, hands-on experience.

“It’s not traditional, but entrepreneurship is about taking risks. This is definitely a risk, but I think the pay off could be huge,” Horne said. “I’ve already learned a ton in five weeks. I can’t really imagine what it’s going to be like at the end of the two years.”

Lately, a day in the life of Horne looks like this: He gets to work bright and early with the sales and product teams at Unified. Toward the end of the day, Horne said [E]nstitute brings in speakers who share their successes and failures with the fellows. Once or twice a week, Horne said, the fellows are also invited to have dinner with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in the area.

“We get to eat with some crazy people who are changing the world. We can ask them any questions we want,” he said. “It’s kind of surreal.”

There’s no doubt Horne has grown up with an entrepreneurial spirit. In 2005 when he was just a sixth grader, Horne was featured in the Kauffman Thoughtbook. He attended the Entrepreneurship Focus Program in Lincoln, a specialized curriculum for high school students interested in business. Shortly after, Horne launched his own startup, SocialE, which managed social media for small businesses. He was also mentored by Hurrdat co-founder Blake Lawrence, who gave Horne the reins of Hurrdat’s personal brand. 

If all else fails, Horne is confident he will always have college to fall back on. 

“I’m only 19, so college is definitely an option down the road if I want to,” he said.

Credits: Photo of Horne from twitter.com.