For serial entrepreneur 杰弗里Aikens, choosing a career path is like settling for one ice cream flavor when there are countless varieties waiting to be discovered.

Aikens, 工商管理专业的学生, knows firsthand just how many ice cream 混合物可以调制. During the pandemic, the class of 2011 Wissahickon High School graduate teamed with a friend to create handmade “boutique ice cream” that 两人按品脱出售.

When his “passion project” melted away, Aikens, who graduates in fall 2023, is, for the time being, setting his sights on Scraptitude, his data analytics business, which focuses on the mixed martial arts sector of sports gambling.

“We’re trying to be the best in the world at something and hopefully it’s data analytics,” Aikens说 of the endeavor he and a friend have been working on for four years. “We became interested in it through doing martial arts when we were younger. 这是很自然的 developing thing that turned into us expanding to the internet side of it.”

Stakes in Scraptitude’s success hinge on the company grasping a foothold in the ever-expanding niche market, which he contends is “slowly becoming more mainstream.”

Aikens, who plans to attend Drexel University after graduation, has no plans to pinpoint 他的事业——至少现在还没有.

“I like to dip my feet into anything that interests me,” he said.

During his time at Montco, Aikens found plenty to pique his interests, including serving as president of the business club, Phi Beta Lambda (PBL).  艾肯斯参加了PBL比赛 state competition and won first place in the business sustainability and economic analysis/decision making categories, competing against students from The Wharton School, Temple Fox School of Business, Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business, Penn State Smeal College of Business, Penn State York, Duquesne University, 布卢姆斯堡大学等. 

As the first-place winner, he completed in the FBLA Collegiate National Leadership 会议将于6月22日至26日在佐治亚州亚特兰大举行. On the national stage, Aikens continued to display his academic prowess, achieving a third-place finish in business sustainability and a commendable fifth-place finish 在经济分析和决策方面. 

Among his College favorites, Aikens lists getting to know new people and broadening 他的世界观.

“It’s a combination of meeting people and getting the chance to challenge myself,” Aikens说. “I enjoy expanding the knowledge on things that I thought I knew about 真正改变了我对事物的看法.”

争取包容

In February, he served as the student moderator for the College’s Presidential Symposium book chat with guest Lorene Cary, an author, educator, and activist. 为期三天的 event featured discussions on diversity, a topic that Aikens was proud to support 在他尊贵的角色中.

“That was really cool to get that kind of recognition,” Aikens说. “我真的 trying to be an example for people and walk the talk. 更具包容性. 这是 我一直关注的问题. 我看到的是人们希望被看到的样子.”

To that end, Aikens说 he hopes to be a “positive influence in the space.”

鼓舞人心的教授

Aikens has found positive role models in the way of MCCC professors. 他见过很多 “cool people and interesting professors” at his time at the College, which he said, 让我好奇.”

他赞扬了. Damon Gray, Management Instructor,  for helping him “expand my critical 思维能力.”

MCCC Associate Professor of Economics Jill Pescatore is “big on understanding how to make people feel welcome in her class and bridge the gap of economic understanding,” Aikens说.

“I’ve seen a lot of people open up in her class,” he said. “她关心别人， 这对老师来说是件好事吗.”

以身作则

Aside from giving the traditional advice to other MCCC student to take notes and do homework, Aikens instead suggests that students step out of their comfort zone to 发掘他们真正的潜力.

“It’s not always about everything being great all the time,” he said. “有些时候 你得慢慢熬过去. There’s a lot of value in that struggle and when you 到另一边去，太棒了.”

With that outlook, Aikens hopes to “never stop growing.”

“You may find something out about yourself that’s very good,” he said. “你可以改变.”

When he’s not taking courses or starting new entrepreneurial endeavors, Aikens enjoys playing video games, sports, and spending time outdoors. 一种自我描述的“体验” person,” he revels in backpacking adventures, museum visits and nature scenes.

更新:7/26/2023