Kevin Gamble, Columbus Student of the Month

Kevin Gamble is the self-made Per Scholas recruiter around town in Columbus. An IT-Ready graduate from this past summer, Kevin is telling everyone he meets that Per Scholas will change your life.

“Do you know how much I promote this place?” he shared with me. “Just the other day, I was at the gas station and saw these two younger guys hanging around. I started talking to them and asked what they were doing with their life and you know, they weren’t working or they were but making minimum wage somewhere. Not doing much. So I gave them the information on Per Scholas and said, ‘Here, change your life. Go sign-up today.’”

Following his service in the United States Marine Corps, Kevin worked in the welding industry for over 20 years. Even so, he still faced stints of unemployment from time to time. Prior to Per Scholas, he was in a period where he was without steady work for nearly two years, largely due to limitations from his service-connected disability. Kevin found Per Scholas through an email about advancement opportunities from his veteran services representative. He immediately picked up the phone to call Per Scholas, spoke with the admissions team and proceeded to sell himself — or what we like to call his 60-second pitch. He professed that this would be an answer to a prayer for him.

And Kevin is exactly the type of individual we go seeking to train, so the enthusiasm was mutual. A natural tinkerer, Kevin shared the story of when he got his first computer — a deeply memorable moment for the typical Per Scholas student. “I traded in my camcorder at a pawn shop in 1989 for a desktop computer they had there.” And from there onward, he was a computer fanatic, taking it apart, figuring out where the ram chip goes, understanding how the mother board worked, letting his curiosity guide him. “I knew the ins and outs, I just needed the training and certification to make something of it all. Per Scholas was what I had been looking for.”

In the classroom, Kevin was just as assertive and curious, confessing he would ask questions every five seconds in class. “He was very motivated to make a better life for him and his family,” shared his Career Coach, John Tyus. Kevin wasn’t just motivated to improve his own life. A true Marine, he made sure no man or woman was left behind.

The class nickname was SEAL TEAM 6. “I named us that,” he laughs. “Our class set a record [for Per Scholas Columbus]. Everyone graduated, everyone passed. Everyone was a part of the success.”

Prior to graduating, Kevin updated his resume and was actively job searching. After he got his certification, he was getting four calls a day from recruiters, he said. He landed a short-term contract right away and is excited to be gaining experience in the IT field.

“Stay focused. Stay ambitious. There is plenty of opportunity out there for a person to be successful if you just try.”

Look out for Kevin around Columbus as he continues to promote Per Scholas. And maybe one day you will find him in your office troubleshooting your tech issues and you, too, can feel the infectious positive nature of the leader of SEAL TEAM 6.