Ted grew-up in Maryland, but his mother went to University of Vermont (UVM). Ted applied and went to UVM and noted, “I wasn’t focused, and so I left. I got a low-paying job and realized I needed to go back to school. We had a family friend that switched to Vermont Tech, liked it, and got a job right after college, so that lead me to Vermont Tech.” Ted choose the Computer Engineering Technology program and expressed, “I believe I was the first person to graduate Vermont Tech with a Computer Engineering Technology Associate Degree in 1987; as that was the first graduating class for that major and my last name starts with ‘A’.”
Ted lived on campus as an RA his second year at Vermont Tech and noted, “I enjoyed campus and the people. I was there on the weekends and really enjoyed my time there.” Ted noted his memory of the snow on campus and noted, “I remember one winter I was there, it stayed below freezing for like 30 days and hit a record.” However, Ted took advantage of the cold weather and played in the Broomball Intermural offered at the time. (See our Student Life page for clubs offered at VTC)!
Ted expressed how Vermont Tech classes and professors were influential in his career stating, “I learned a variety of programming languages and hardware classes at Vermont Tech that helped propel me into my career.” He explained further, “I was a Field Engineer for Lanier and had to take an entrance exam. I was told after I was hired that I scored the best of anyone they had hired, on a variety of topics. Obviously, my time at Vermont Tech had a big part in that. Also, I went through a Systems Administrator Internship with the Federal Government and again scored at the top of my class. I credit much of my success in my career with from my time at Vermont Tech!” Ted also stated, “Another thing I was impressed there at Vermont Tech, they have really good faculty and staff. The professors there worked in careers and then started teaching, bringing real world knowledge into the classroom.” This information is still true to this day! (Find more under Faculty Stories).
After graduating from Vermont Tech, Ted had many successful careers in his field of study. After his first job at Linear as a Field Engineer, Ted moved onto work for the Department of Defense as an Engineering Specialist, stating, “I was a GS-7, which is the grade for new hires with Bachelor degrees, and I only had an Associates!” Then Ted moved onto becoming a Local Area Network Manager, where he focused on system administrations and working on software. He explained, “I went for an internship for two-in half years in System Administration and took more college classes and graduated from that. Then I was offered a really cool job for the State Department for 16 years, which was interesting because I traveled a lot and installed big software and hardware systems and administered them all around the world.” Afterwards, Ted switched gears and worked for the US Government in Department in Defense as a Computer Scientist for 32 years! He emphasized, “Over my 30-year career I kept taking classes to stay updated in my field of study. One thing I learned is never stop learning.”
When asked if he would recommend Vermont Tech, Ted stated, “I would definitely recommend Vermont Tech. I was looking at the labs and hands-on learning that is available there now and it is really useful for the real-world applications. I think my education at Vermont Tech was really key to my success.”
Now retired and residing in Virginia, Ted shared that his son had a college advisor that recommended Vermont Tech because of the programs offered in his interest but also because of the high job placement rate (Vermont Tech ranked #1 in ROI). Noting that they live in a more rural area, he said that Vermont Tech’s reputation travels far!