Planet eCore: Dean's List eCore Student - Online from Kuwait

eCore student Kevin Sutor is currently stationed in Kuwait, where he is a US Army IT Specialist/Information Officer/Sharepoint Administrator.

Kevin attends Middle Georgia State College, where his major is B.S. Information Technology with dual concentration in Network Administration and Information Security (an online degree program).  


Last semester, Kevin took 6 courses, and earned As in all of them.

"One of the reasons why I've been so successful recently is because I've made bold decisions when lacking self-confidence. I honestly didn't think I could handle taking 16 online hours while getting deployed, but I signed up for it because I was determined to finish my degree as fast as possible," he says.

"We are all afraid to push our own boundaries and test our limits, but by pushing ourselves past the point that our mind thinks we can handle, we start to discover how amazing our true potential really is. But in order to do that, we need to take the bold first step," he continued.

This semester, two of Kevin's courses are offered through the USG eCore collaborative program - US History and Communications.


"What I learned from Communications that is helpful to my future is how to give a presentation. Some little things to notice like body language, avoiding jargon (which is somewhat difficult for me being in the IT field), and remaining confident. These all sound like they would be easy when put in words. Having to actually give a presentation to an audience was a different story. I never knew that live presentations required so much practice. I always thought it was something that just came naturally for most people."  

Kevin says that his favorite study place is in his bed with a laptop.

"It's so much easier for me to study and do my assignments when I feel relaxed, compared to being stressed when sitting down trying to cram information into my brain. It really depends on the week. Some weeks I have plenty of time to finish all of my assignments, but others require some late-night studying/reading. That's why I generally work on my assignments during a lunch break or any small off time that I have. All of the small breaks add up to a lot of total time spent on schoolwork during a week. I've never missed an assignment (aside from an extra credit one) so I can't say it's too hard to keep up. A lot of it is about time management," he explains.

Kevin also recently passed the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) Exam, and is now CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Network+, and now CCNA certified.


Kevin says, "Part of my job is to ensure that proper policies are being followed, and if there are any issues with design, permissions, or general questions of how to use SharePoint, I'm the first point of contact. I also schedule conference rooms for the multiple amount of meetings that different sections of my unit schedule. As an IMO, I ensure that all data is transferred in a secure fashion. I'm responsible for applying patches and installation of any required software for our machines. I am also responsible for adding, creating, and modifying any users in my organization. Aside from that, I perform my normal job function which is to resolve any IT-related issues that arise within my unit in theater."


"I'm really excited that I'm making myself more marketable for job opportunities," he says.

In his spare time, Kevin enjoys Anime, including Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, Naruto Shippuden, Fairy Tail, Gitama, and One Piece. "In between readings and assignments I always like to watch a 20 minute episode of anime just to let my brain cool down so I don't overload myself," he says.

Kevin will return to the United States in about four months, and hopes to one day live in the Steamboat, Colorado area, where he has fond memories of skiing with his family as a child.