Kent State Works - Our Economic Impact

As demand for behavioral health professionals continues to rise across Ohio and the nation, Kent State University is preparing graduates to not just enter the field right away, but to advance, lead and make a lasting impact in their communities. For three Kent State alumni — Cassandra Galloway, Victoria Giegerich and Jason Joyce — their paths may differ slightly, but their stories illustrate how Kent State connects education to real-world outcomes.

For high school students considering Kent State’s entrepreneurship program, William Elffers, ’15, encourages them to take the leap. “Deep down everybody has an idea for a business, but somewhere along the way, somebody tells them, just choose the safe route,” he said. “Four years at Kent, five years, six years at Kent is a great time to really explore what your possibilities are with starting a business. It's a safe environment. You can fail and get picked back up and learn.”

It was a childhood fascination with aviation that led alumna Linell Homentosky to choose Kent State University when it came time to pick the ideal college program for her. As she tells it, the interest was first sparked by her aunt, Judy, who was a flight attendant.

For Ashley Motley, what began as a childhood love of solving math problems — the “weird kid who enjoyed doing math homework,” as she puts it — has grown into a career at Medical Mutual, a Cleveland-based health insurance company, thanks to scholarships, supportive faculty, and hands-on preparation at Kent State University.