Colorado Tech Online Students and Alumni
Meet Kevin Wilson
BSIT with a concentration in Information Systems Security
A Degree Makes All the Difference
Since getting into computer science over 10 years ago, Kevin Wilson has watched as more and more jobs in the field have gone overseas. And then some of the jobs—at high tech companies like Northrop Grumman, American Automation, and Boeing—that were available around his home in the Denver metropolitan area required a Bachelor's degree, which he didn't have. Finally Kevin decided to just…"suck it up" and get the Bachelor's degree he had started back in the 1980s.
"Since getting into computer science, I have been in and out of employment. I thought that maybe if I had a degree I would spend less time being unemployed because I would be more valuable and have more jobs to choose from." Kevin picked the Security concentration within Colorado Tech Online's Bachelor's degree in Information Technology because he figured that would be one area that would most likely never go overseas. Kevin will graduate from Colorado Tech Online in March 2007. He started in April 2005.
Part of the reason Kevin never finished his degree back in the 1980s, when he took three years of classes at a traditional school in Denver, was because he didn't know what he should take or major in. "To this day, I still don't know if I'm doing the right thing, but I decided that any degree is better than no degree."
The Degree That Opens Doors
"There are many companies in the Denver metroplex, especially military contractors, who would rather have a degreed engineer with no experience than what I am, an engineer with experience and no degree. After I get my degree, I'll have the piece of paper and experience, which I hope will really expand my employment opportunities!"
Right now Kevin isn't taking any IT or Security classes though. Because Colorado Tech Online is a liberal arts university and not a vocational school, all students have to take a variety of classes in the Humanities and Sciences. "I call them 'fluff' classes not because I'm not learning anything in them, but because they have nothing to do with my goal of self-employment in the hardware/software industry. I'm learning lots of stuff, and I'm enjoying most of it, but I'd rather just focus on information system security."
Such additional courses are a part of any and every Bachelor's degree though—a Bachelor's degree is a sign of a well-rounded education, after all—and Kevin knows these classes are a means to an end. That "end" of course being Kevin's goal of living in two different places—specifically Colorado (spring and summer) and Arizona (fall and winter)—telecommuting to his own hardware or software business.
In the meantime, Kevin is making his way through the non-IT courses. "I have learned some good stuff and I know how to find information in different locations now and I can hold conversations in areas that I couldn't talk about before. Even so, I am still looking forward to getting back to information system security and programming language classes."
"I really enjoyed the business classes, which I thought was really strange. I didn't think I had the 'mind state' to enjoy putting together business proposals and such, but it turns out I do."
Right now Kevin is working as a test engineer in Storage Area Networks (SANs) on a contract for Hewlett Packard. He says his HP supervisor doesn't really know he's more than halfway through his Bachelor's degree but that the firm (VMC) that contracted him out to HP does. "My boss thinks a Bachelor's degree will make me much more marketable."
"Having a degree will at least give me the opportunity to be considered for more positions rather than having my résumé end up in the circular file!"
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