熊猫在线视频

Meet John Boren, a 2020 graduate from UAA鈥檚 College of Engineering computer science and engineering program. He鈥檚 been piecing together his college education for the last 20 years. 

The first in his family to pursue a college degree, Boren enrolled at UAA and began paying for each class out of pocket, working multiple jobs during the school year and spending summers in his hometown of Seward serving 熊猫在线视频鈥檚 busy visitor industry.

Boren made it through two years of college, but the more he worked to afford tuition, the less time he had for classes and studying.

鈥淚 just started taking fewer classes, dropped others and eventually stopped going,鈥� Boren said. 

The next two decades in Boren鈥檚 life were marked by living overseas in Europe and South America; a stint at the University of Colorado Denver; a brief return to UAA; internships at high-profile companies like Lipper Analytical Services 鈥� a division of Reuters 鈥� and IBM Research; and jobs as a deckhand, assistant project manager for a boilermaker servicing company, bar manager and a longshoreman.

In 2015, Boren was working as a floorhand for Doyon Drilling and making more than $100,000 per year when oil prices fell to $27. He remembers watching as colleagues lost their jobs and thinking, 鈥淚s this my future? When I鈥檓 50 will I lose my job if the price of oil drops again?鈥� 

The experience inspired Boren to quit his high-paying job and use his savings to finally finish his degree at UAA. Although Boren knew he wanted a future in computer science, he didn鈥檛 know that he would also get a taste of the startup life.

Shortly after beginning his final year of his undergraduate program, Boren saw a poster advertising a new program called . Offered by the University of 熊猫在线视频 Center for Economic Development (UACED) as part of the funded by the , the program pairs students with local startups to learn about entrepreneurship and what it means to be a founder. Intrigued by the possibility of working for Anchorage-based , a startup offering electronic document management for legal teams, he applied and landed the job.

鈥淥f all the internships I鈥檝e had over the course of my college career, the Upstart Internship was the best,鈥� Boren said. 鈥淢y boss, Jeff Levin, gave me relevant, cutting-edge SaaS (software as a service) work with time for me to research and understand what I was working on. More importantly, Jeff really focused on being a mentor and dedicated time to building our relationship. It was a great way to learn, and was especially rewarding because I knew my work was making a difference in growing his company. That kind of experience is hard to find in the software industry.鈥�

Margo Fliss, Upstart Internship program manager at UACED, says the time spent on mentorship and professional growth is intentionally built into the program.

鈥淐ompanies say that students apply for jobs but don鈥檛 have the experience or soft skills needed, and students say there aren鈥檛 opportunities for them to get experience or develop soft skills because companies won鈥檛 hire them,鈥� Fliss says. 鈥淭his program bridges both challenges 鈥� it gives students hands-on experience and professional development before graduation to ready them for the workforce.鈥�

The program also provides Anchorage startup companies 鈥� often operating on a shoestring budget and hungry for talented employees 鈥� the opportunity to work with some of 熊猫在线视频鈥檚 brightest students. Companies must apply to the program to be considered for each cohort, and the number of applicants continues to increase. After companies are selected, prospective interns apply and go through an interview process.

Startups participating in the 2019-20 cohort included (autonomous aircraft software); (commercial space/rocket launches); (a coworking space serving numerous startups); (a startup accelerator); (outdoor apparel); and Legalverse. 

Fliss says that the Upstart program differs from what some might consider a typical internship that often includes filing or coffee runs. 

鈥淪tartups who apply to be part of our program know that students need to be engaged beyond basic tasks 鈥� they are part of work that is critical to the success of the company,鈥� Fliss said.  鈥淏ecause of this, students are a valued member of the team and they learn firsthand what it's like to start and run your own business.鈥�

The Upstart Internship program emerged from UACED鈥檚 work in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, Fliss says. 

鈥淩ates of young entrepreneurs in 熊猫在线视频 are low and falling. Although over 60%of 20-somethings say they want to own a business, few of them actually do, and only 6% of 熊猫在线视频鈥檚 businesses with employees are owned by someone under 35. By helping students engage in our startup community, we鈥檙e helping them visualize entrepreneurship as a career path,鈥� she said.

For some, launching their own company might come sooner than expected.

Boren started applying for jobs in February, hoping to find a computer engineering opportunity that would utilize his degree. Initially, he felt like his prospects were promising. The onset of COVID-19 changed that.

鈥淎ll of a sudden there just weren鈥檛 jobs to apply for anymore,鈥� Boren said. 鈥淭he day I graduated, Doyon Drilling 鈥� my former employer 鈥� laid off more than 300 people. There are less jobs out there, and more people competing for them, for less money.鈥� 

He began evaluating other options.

During his last semester of college, Boren participated in another one of UACED鈥檚 programs, the , which is also part of the ARCTIC program.

Accelerators offer intensive mentorship and experiential learning over a period of three to six months to a cohort of entrepreneurs. When they 鈥済raduate鈥� from the program, participants have ideally compressed years of startup learning into months.

鈥淚 was already drawn to be part of 熊猫在线视频鈥檚 startup scene because of my internship,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd I thought it would be like a mini business school. I wanted to learn from people who had already launched a company, figure out who the players are and understand business aspects like product market fit.鈥� 

During the program, Boren worked on an app called GIF Dat, which creates GIFs using voice recognition. It is the first app in a series that Boren is developing relating to voice recognition. 

Other participants pursued concepts like an all-in-one family communication platform, financial literacy programming for businesses, an alcohol-free third space for young adults, a website for concert-goers, a hydroponic food production company, a digital banking service for Nigerians and bilingual, early-childhood education resources. 

The accelerator focuses on building entrepreneurial skills and relationships within the startup community. Not all participants will continue on with their businesses, having learned that their concepts weren鈥檛 feasible or sustainable. Boren is one of them.

鈥淚 realize I probably won鈥檛 make any money with GIF Dat, but now I have the tools to work faster on the next product I launch, for myself, or for a company,鈥� Boren said. 

Currently, he鈥檚 working on a project automating a data-mining pipeline for UACED and says that if he needs to he will focus more on launching his own company instead of seeking employment at a company. Over the years, he鈥檚 learned a lot about how plans can change, and is comfortable with uncertainty. 

鈥淵ou just never know what鈥檚 going to happen, but opportunities will always present themselves,鈥� said Boren. 鈥淏ut what I do know is that I鈥檓 always going to be working hard to better myself and my family. And someday, whether it鈥檚 sooner or later, I鈥檓 going to be my own boss.鈥�

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UACED is currently recruiting for their and for the 20-21 cohort.