Patch Whiz Kid: Ben Karmis

Name: Ben Karmis

Age: 17

School: Wheaton North

Key to awesomeness: Ben Karmis is busy this summer starting his own electronics repair business—and donating some of his proceeds to charity—and volunteering with Buddy Baseball and the Refugee Ministry at St. Michael’s Church.

He got the idea to start a business when his X-Box broke. “I paid—I think—$100 for Microsoft to fix my X-Box and then it just broke again awhile later ... I had it fixed again by another company, but it didn’t last. I was fed up and decided to look up some videos online and learn how to do it myself,” he said.

Soon, Karmis’s friends were asking him to fix their X-Boxes, and eventually other things like a Nintendo Wii and a cell phone. He charges only $20 for his services, which he says mainly covers parts like screws and wiring. He has always had a knack for electronics, “I grew up with computers and fixing them is just part of my life,” Karmis said, “My parents always told me I have a mechanical mind.”

Karmis said he plans to donate some of the money he makes to families with unemployed parents. “My father has been unemployed for four years. We’ve been through a lot financially. Lots of other parents are unemployed and I figured I could help them,” he said.

Though he is still deciding which charity he'll support and working out the kinks of running his own business, Karmis said he hopes his services will spread by word-of-mouth.

When he isn’t fixing electronics or working for a sealcoating company, Karmis volunteers during the summer for Buddy Baseball, which is a baseball camp for mentally and physically handicapped children operated by the Wheaton Junior Women's Club. This is his fifth year with the program and his third year working with the same "buddy." 

Karmis also volunteers with Refugee Ministry at St. Michael’s Church. Every Sunday after church, Karmis teaches English and American culture to people who have moved to the U.S. from Burma and Malaysia. Karmis said he knows that the refugees “have faced so much more hardship than we can imagine,” and that he enjoys knowing that he has helped to make a difference—and has made the refugees laugh in the process.

Karmis will be a senior at Wheaton North in the fall. He has participated in track for three years and cross country for one year. He was on the wrestling team until his sophomore year and is a member of the Anglers fishing club and Key Club. 

Karmis is considering the University of Virginia among other colleges to attend. He wants to enroll in the Reserve Officer Training Core (ROTC) in order to receive training to be an officer in the Navy or Marines after college, and is considering an electronics or mechanics-related degree.