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Quantec Software donates two
scholarships (May 22, 2006 ) This month, the founder
of Quantec Software donated two scholarships to the Temecula Valley
Scholarship Foundation in honor of outstanding college bound high school
seniors.
A copy of the article is posted below, as well as a link to
the
original article here.
The article was also printed on the front page of The
Californian.
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They're uncertain, unprepared and undeclared.
Then there's Quan Nguyen, a 2005 Chaparral High School graduate.
The UC San Diego freshman not only runs an online business that he
founded, takes a full course load and tutors part-time, he also has
established two scholarships for Chaparral seniors who are planning careers
in computers or businesses ---- preferably both, said Nguyen, 18.
Nguyen's one-man operation, Quantec Software, is sponsoring the
scholarships.
"As soon as I graduated, I thought of it," said Nguyen, who has received
more than 100 applications for the award. "I know how expensive college can
be. And I want to give back to the community."
Rita O'Neill, co-president of the Citizens Scholarship Foundation of
Temecula Valley, said Nguyen is the first student she knows of to found a
scholarship a year after high school graduation.
"To have your own business as a first-year college student at age 18 is
quite remarkable and quite industrious," O'Neill said. "And to give back,
kind of like paying it forward, that's wonderful."
Nguyen's 2006 scholarship winners will be announced on May 22, O'Neill said.
Though Nguyen wouldn't say how much his awards will be worth, the foundation
requires them to be at least $250 each.
Last year, approximately 380 scholarships worth about $150,000 from local
businesses, charities, the city of Temecula and the Southwest Riverside
County Association of Realtors were awarded to more 300 students attending
Chaparral and Temecula Valley High, according to the foundation.
"My business put me into the position to help with my fellow students," said
Nguyen, who last spring received a combined $2,000 in scholarship money from
Temecula Sunrise Rotary Club and Plant Equipment Inc.
During his senior year at Chaparral, Nguyen founded a Web site,
yourecommerce.com, as a hobby.
Now, the site, which assists startup online businesses, is itself a
lucrative small business. Nguyen said his annual profits easily cover the
cost of a year's schooling at UCSD, though he declined to reveal the
revenues of Quantec Solutions, which runs the site.
The computer engineering major, who lived in Temecula from age 3 until his
recent move to La Jolla, tutors UCSD students 12 to 15 hours a week, in
addition to his 16-credit course load at the university.
"Pretty much everything I'm taking, I tutor people in," said Nguyen, who
charges students for his time.
He is an ideal teacher, said his friend and suitemate Sung Choi, 19, who
also is a UCSD freshman.
"He's like the smartest guy in the suite," Choi said of Nguyen. "He's
getting almost a 4.0 GPA."
Nguyen said he averages six to seven hours of sleep a night, but lacks
leisure time to watch television. So when the Lakers were on, his suitemates
would blast the TV loud enough for him to hear the play-by-play ---- but
Nguyen, who refuses to station a set in his dorm room, rarely watched Kobe
Bryant and company on the tube, he said.
How could he? Clients of Quantec Software demand at least 12 to 15 hours of
his time a week, he says.
Then Nguyen, who said he plays piano and occasionally golfs, spends another
four to five hours studying his competition.
"It's intensely competitive," he said, referring to Web sites that aid
startup online businesses. "There are thousands of sites like mine. You have
to differentiate your project."
Yet, the considerable workload doesn't bog him down. Just the opposite, he
said.
Nguyen said he is considering joining an undergraduate research project
sponsored by Microsoft. If he joins, he would help program wireless devices,
including personal digital assistants, used by university professors.
But Nguyen, despite majoring in computer engineering, said he prefers
business.
"I don't want to be the guy cooped up in a room for 12 hours," he said,
"although sometimes, that happens."
Choi said Nguyen isn't that kind of guy.
"He's always relaxed," Choi said. "He spends time with friends."
In the long-term, Nguyen hopes to be living in a metropolis.
"I want to be in an urban environment ---- somewhere loud," he said. "It's
populous. There are so many things to do, so many opportunities."
Business opportunities, he clarified.
Contact staff writer Brian Eckhouse at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2626, or
beckhouse@californian.com. To
comment on this article, go to www.californian.com.
.
To Visit the SDSIC's website,
click here.
Quan Nguyen
Quantec Software
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