Ktor is a jack of all trades who has a love for both sports and technology and has chosen a collegiate path that will allow him to pursue both passions. During his academic career he has learned to juggle many priorities while finding time to do what he loves. His determination and pursuit of excellence is just one of the many reasons he received the 2021 Opportunity Rising Scholarship.
During high school, Ktor worked hard on and off the field. As a student athlete, Ktor found himself always playing a sport no matter the season. He played on his school’s basketball, football and track teams, while excelling in class and and finding time for his other interests, like gaming.
Ktor initially heard about the Opportunity Rising Scholarship from his sister, who also received the scholarship a few years prior. She encouraged him to apply so that he would be able to focus on his education rather than the costs associated with college. Her first-hand knowledge of the scholarship proved helpful and Ktor was able to follow in his sister’s footsteps as a foundation scholar.
Ktor has always been interested in computers. From a young age he found his passion in gaming and the community surrounding esports. In high school, Ktor started livestreaming his games and found himself becoming more interested in learning how games are developed. His passions led Ktor to pursue a degree in computer science so that, someday, he might not just be a person playing video games, but the person creating them.
He hopes to combine his love of sports with his love of video games by pursuing a career in esports games development as a software developer, where he can put his knowledge of both playing sports in real life and through gaming, to work. He is passionate about bringing joy to people’s lives, and he believes that by having a hand in creating quality games, he can do that every day.
Ktor is currently in his freshman year at Texas Southern University, a public historically black university in Houston, Texas, where he is majoring in computer science in pursuit of becoming a software developer. His aunt, a proud TSU alum, encouraged him to consider the university and spoke highly of her time there. He was drawn to the school as it is one of the largest and most comprehensive HBCUs in the nation. “My aunt really enjoyed her time there and I want to build a community like she did,” Ktor says.
He hopes to try out for his school’s football team next semester and get back into being part of a team, something that the COVID-19 pandemic took away during his senior year. While he didn’t get to play during his senior year, Ktor is looking forward to continuing to build his skills on the field.
With this scholarship, Ktor will be able to pursue his dreams without the added stress of financing his education. “Thank you for this opportunity,” he says. “It is helping me take care of paying for school and will help me take the classes I need to become a software developer.”
For any students interested in applying for the scholarship, Ktor’s advice that he followed in high school is, “don’t give up and apply for as many scholarships as you can throughout the year. You never know when you’ll be awarded one and they really help with the finances of school!”
