Michael Nakamura 4th year Business Administration student - Volunteer profile

Business Administration student Michael Nakamura says interning at the Trent University Advancement Office offered key insights into business world

Since he was a young boy, Michael Nakamura has had a strong entrepreneurial spirit – selling lemonade, mowing lawns and shovelling snow to earn extra pocket money.

After enrolling in Trent University, he used those natural business instincts to create a start-up hair-scrunchie business, turning $5 into $150 within a week.

Now a fourth-year Business Administration student set to graduate this month, the bright and hard-working 22-year-old is well on his way to a successful business career but he’s thankful that a Trent internship also provided an experiential-learning opportunity to gain vital experience in the world of philanthropy.

“I completed an internship in the External Relations and Advancement Office because I believe that philanthropy is an asset that’s needed more than ever in the current global pandemic,” Mr. Nakamura says. “Seeking donorship is, in my mind, a skill very similar to sales but instead of selling a product you are selling a cause or an idea.”

Mr. Nakamura is originally from Newmarket, Ont. and chose Trent for post-secondary studies after falling in love with the stunning campus and the advantages of a small university.

“I loved the natural beauty, the Faryon bridge and smaller class sizes,” he says.

Throughout his Business studies, he has gained lifelong friends, worked with down-to-earth professors and gained critical experience as a director of the Trent Business Student Association.

“My time at Trent has genuinely been the best years of my life,” he says. “The phenomenally accepting residences, the wonderful new library and the calm yet bustling student centre are places considered to me and many others as second homes. Through the experiences I've made, the faculty I've met, and the education which will last a lifetime, I can truly say the Trent spirit will be held deep within my heart for life.”

Mr. Nakamura isn’t certain what his future holds, although his dream is to open his own automotive part shop. But whatever venture he chooses, he knows he’ll be even more successful for having broadened his horizons through his time with the Advancement Office.

“Understanding these skills and ideals will hopefully help me apply what I have learned in this experiential learning towards my future ventures,” he says.

Learn more about Trent University’s opportunities to get a hands-on learning experience including in the classroom, outside the classroom, co-curriculum opportunities and volunteering.