Meet your new study buddy...
Making It Student entrepreneur grows web agency, funds scholarship
By Debra Johnson
K
entaro Roy was just 10 years old when he began tinkering with computers and discovered he had a knack for designing websites. A decade later, Roy founded a business, Kentaro Web Design + SEO. A junior majoring in marketing at Eastern Michigan University, he has also established an annual scholarship at the University.
As a teenager, Roy worked as a freelancer on a variety of web design projects utilizing search engine optimization (SEO), a process that helps websites get more hits through search engines. He also came to realize that local real estate firms needed more Internet marketing support. He had found his niche, and in late 2010 he set up his own company helping real estate firms convert web visitors into sales. Less than two years later, Kentaro Web Design + SEO reports annual sales of more than $150,000. Roy takes pride in the fact that four of his five employees are Eastern students or graduates. “We’re all about continuing to build a relationship with the University, our customers and the community,” he says. In that spirit of giving back to the community and his alma matter Eastern Michigan University (EMU), Roy took an unusual step for a student—he set up a scholarship fund to help students pursue education in cyber security. The scholarship will award $500 to a student in the Information Assurance Program of the College of Technology. He chose this program, he says, “because the program is relatively new and does not have much funding or resources for students yet.” For more information about Roy’s company, visit the website: www.kenta.ro Editor’s note: Debra Johnson works in EMU’s Media Relations Department. 4 UrbanED • April 2012
By Andrew Losen
Chances are, “studying for the ACT” doesn’t fall in your top 5
ways you like to spend your free time. More likely, it’s not even in the top hundred. But a new web app could change all that. Meet Grockit. Grockit is a new social media centered app that allows you to collaborate and compete with friends while studying for tests like the ACT, SAT, GMAT and other tests required for college admissions. Linked with your Facebook account, Grockit lets you show off how much you’ve studied, create and join study groups online with friends, and earn and display achievements on your profile. But Grockit is more than just a fun, interactive way to prepare. It also adapts to your personal learning needs, allowing you to focus on weak areas and improve your scores quickly. Grockit gives students who prefer a more hands-on approach access to online video tutorials focused on exactly what they are learning, matches students with others who share their learning preferences and offers real-time support. Perhaps most helpful with Grockit is the access you have to its network of exceptional tutors. Grockit helps you find the right instructor with its student ratings and testimonials, as well as a transparent presentation of each tutor’s own performance. Grockit is free to try for 3 days, and only $29.99 per month after that. Compared to the expensive and relatively dry test preparation courses available today, this is tough to beat. After all, what’s the use of buying test preparation materials if you don’t actually use them?