Stuart Draper
I have told multiple people that my experience in an Internet marketing class during my senior year changed my life. I am certain that my career would have gone in a whole different direction if it hadn’t been for that class. Real-world experience from that class and others gave me the confidence I needed to enter the workforce as a valuable contributor and leader. It also helped me take the leap of faith to go out on my own as an entrepreneur.
Besides becoming a father of two beautiful children, my greatest personal accomplishments would be investing in a BYU-Idaho approved housing complex for women and having a patent pending on what will be my next entrepreneurial venture. My greatest professional accomplishments would have to be starting a successful online marketing company with no outside funding that is growing steadily in its third year of business. The other is becoming a Google Adwords Certified Partner Company.
My workplace is unique in that everyone that works with me has graduated from BYU-Idaho. We are all leaders. Everyone leads in one form or another and has the capability to do so. We all know very well how to take charge when it is our turn in a group setting because of the BYU-Idaho Learning Model implemented by President Clark.
My education at BYU-Idaho will help me serve in the community because it has given me talents and skills that I would not otherwise have. For example, I voluntarily help run an Internet marketing network group that meets once a week to discuss the ways we can use the Internet to grow our business.
While studying at BYU-Idaho, I also worked 30 hours a week and served in a calling, so I would say that my time at the university helped me realize that while we live busy lives working to provide for our family, we can still sacrifice time to serve the Lord in His Church.
I have been a deacons quorum advisor, assistant Scoutmaster, and I have served in two elders quorum presidencies.
My wife also graduated from BYU-Idaho. Together we are doing our best to raise our kids in righteousness by teaching them the things we have learned in the Church, at general conference, at BYU-Idaho devotionals, and from the scriptures.
We have been blessed to participate in the BYU-Idaho internship program. We hire BYU-Idaho students to work for us every semester, and quite a few of them we have had the means to hire on for full-time work.
