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JA Inspiration Scholarship Recipient: “Business is fun”

As a new year begins, I think it is fitting to look back in order to set sights for the future.

Hello, my name is Jared Leventhal, and I am humbled to be a 2010 Junior Achievement Inspiration Scholarship Recipient, currently in my third year studying business and engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I understand the need for technical knowledge, which is where my engineering field of study comes into play, but I also cannot imagine going to school without learning more about business.

My first entrepreneurial experience began when I was 11 years old and mowed my neighbor’s yard; the rest is history, as over the next nine years I have successfully built a steady clientele and created a business that helps me to pay for my higher education. During my first year of college, I created my second business with a friend through a business plan competition on campus, and in March 2011 incorporated that media-based business as well. Once it turned profitable in the summer of 2012, I had a startling choice to make: continue to focus on school, or see where my business acumen could take me. Seeing as how my commitment to school was unwavering, and given my progress, I did not want to sacrifice my education, and I sold my half of my second business, again helping me to pay for my next year of college.

Looking ahead, I am involved with what is soon to be a third business, as the engineering research team on campus of which I am a part recently was awarded stage one of a grant for a sustainable venture proposal, of which I authored a significant portion. I am learning how to blend my engineering skills with my love for business, and I can attribute the beginning of this combination to my experience at Pomona High School. From Junior Achievement to DECA to Future Business Leaders of America and every business class I avidly took, I realized that my future lay in entrepreneurship because business is fun. As a shining example, while I was taking Business Law during my senior year of high school, I also learned about Business Ethics through Junior Achievement. Ethics has been ingrained into every path I have taken since 2010, and for that, I am thankful that I had the opportunity to be a part of Junior Achievement.

As I move forward, Junior Achievement will forever be an integral component of my education.

-Jared Leventhal

2010 JA Inspiration Scholarship Recipients

To learn more about Jared’s story, watch the JA Student Success Stories video on the homepage of JAColorado.org.

Learn more about the JA Inspiration Scholarship