Rich Kostiuk got the present everyone dreads right before the holidays in December 2001. His job with Kemet was sent overseas. So Kostiuk took advantage of retraining opportunities and enrolled in the Programming Certificate at Greenville Tech. 

About a year later, Kostiuk wrote a term paper on careers for a management class, comparing programming with networking. The research he did was enough to convince him that networking offered the opportunities he was looking for. He switched to the Network Systems Administration program, graduating in 2004. 

Today, Kostiuk works for Greenville County Schools as a network technician. He appreciates the fact that no two days are alike as he goes out on service calls, helping students, teachers and principals with their computers. “You run into some of the same problems here and there,” he said. “Things break down, hard drives go bad, and power supplies go out, but it’s different every day.” 

Keeping up with changing technology keeps Kostiuk on his toes. As the district has moved from Novell to Microsoft, he’s pursuing certification as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. 

Kostiuk said that without the impetus of a layoff, he probably would have remained a machine technician until retirement. Finding a career that he enjoys more has been a wonderful by-product of that unexpected bump in the road. “So far, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said. “I love my job, and I love the challenge.”