INSIDE BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY

Graduate helps other international students feel more at home

School of Management


Name: Jedut Sutoyo
Degree: BS in accounting
Plans: Enter the public sector and work for a nonprofit or non-government international organization, hoping to eventually return to Indonesia to open his own company and enter politics.

A native of Indonesia, Jedut “Jed” Sutoyo has spent about half of his life living in Europe and the United States. Actually, in Switzerland and Long Island to be exact because his father works in the foreign service.

Sutoyo’s life has shaped him. “I used to live in Long Island and when I left, I always wanted to come back to New York,” he said. “I didn‘t know upstate or Binghamton even existed. I applied to all the SUNY schools and heard good things about Binghamton, so that’s why I’m here.”

And while he’s been here, he has used his unique background to assist other international students by volunteering for international student orientations. “Being a foreigner myself, I understand how it can be and I wanted to help out,” he said.

Maria Sabatino, assistant director for the Office of International Student and Scholar Services, has been impressed with Sutoyo’s dedication to the international orientation program. “We rely on volunteers to really assist the new students as they come in,” she said. “What’s amazing about Jed is that he’s been a volunteer three or four times and that involves a huge commitment.

“We have four-day training sessions in the summer and then the volunteers assist for the full 2 1/2 days in the fall,” Sabatino said. “I was particularly impressed with his commitment to helping his fellow students and his desire to continually help them get through what is usually a difficult transition. With him returning year after year, he brought his expertise and creativity with him and we relied on him to help us, too.”

Graduating after only three years, Sutoyo’s future path remains open, but he hopes to work in the public sector. While in high school, he was “all into business and making money.” However, his priorities shifted as he entered college. He now hopes to work for a nonprofit or non-government international organization, which might include a social justice organization.

After gaining some experience, preferably abroad, Sutoyo hopes to return to Indonesia. “One of my goals is to build my own company and then get involved in the political scene in Indonesia and hopefully make some changes,” he said. Sutoyo is currently interning with the Broome County Government Audit and Control Department, a position he decided to seek because of his future aspirations of entering politics in Indonesia.

Active in the French Club and BTV while at Binghamton, Sutoyo speaks three languages (English, French and Indonesian), though he doesn’t feel fluent in any and is most comfortable speaking English. “I haven’t been as involved as I wish I could have been while I was here,” he said. “But I was president of the French Club and I used to be the BTV news director. I just thought it was interesting working with cameras and I wish I could learn all these things.”

Sutoyo also worked to edit and lay out a magazine for the Experimental Media Organization, served as a counselor for High Hopes, tutored French at the Center for Academic Excellence and was a teaching assistant for French 211. “All the extracurricular activities, being with different people and being with people with different interests, has been a lot of fun,” he said.