In an era of flaming high tuition rates, it's enough for students to cover their own bills, let alone fund the education of others. Kentaro Roy, president of Kentaro Web Design + SEO and funder of a scholarship at EMU, writes about being a student entrepreneur and keeping young talent in-state.
Why I Funded a Scholarship at Eastern Michigan University
Posted By: Kentaro Roy
Posted: 5/3/2012
In 2011, I established a scholarship fund at my current school, Eastern Michigan University. Kentaro Web Design + SEO sponsors a $500 award to a student enrolled in the Information Assurance program at the College of Technology, which is renewable for three years. I chose to make this contribution to the program for two reasons.
First, the technology field in Michigan is still young, so we need smart, talented people to stay and work here and help us grow it. We've heard it over and over, but keeping professionals and young talent in Michigan is very important for our economy. We need to make Michigan a place where the next generation of leaders wants to study, work, and live.
My second reason is that cyber security has grown into a crucial component of doing business in the twenty-first century, but again, the industry is still very young in Michigan. Every business has digital data that must be kept confidential, which we are obligated by law to protect. The safe storage and transmission of sensitive data is crucial, and for many companies it's a full-time job. As technology continues to develop and businesses pursue options like cloud storage, the demand for cyber security professionals' skills will increase.
Though the scholarship fund is not a large one at this point, I plan to grow it along with my business. As a student myself I know that every bit helps, and I'm happy to take this opportunity to give other EMU students a hand. My professional and academic experiences have proved to me that Eastern produces many high-quality students (four of our five employees either graduated from Eastern or are currently studying there, including myself). I'm convinced that the university will continue to produce top-notch talent. We've worked with several interns and independent contractors who also were Eastern students or grads, and they were just fantastic to do business with.
We love our relationship with Eastern and look forward to building that relationship for many years to come.