Future Tech Talent - Darryl Rumph, Jr.

Rising senior and computer science major, Darryl Rumph, Jr., spent his summer as a developer at Cisco. The Raleigh native is a part of a new generation of tech talent emerging from Shaw. Below he tells us about his experiences at Shaw, Cisco, and his future hopes and dreams.

Where did you intern this summer and what were your main responsibilities? 
I interned at Cisco Systems. My primary responsibilities were web development for employee services and helping to organize a data science symposium. 

What was the biggest difference between the work world and the school world?
Outside of getting paid to work vs. paying to have the opportunity to work (learn) the biggest difference I've seen is the necessity for collaboration. In school, you can be very successful on your own, but in the professional job setting, you have to work as part of a team to make a meaningful impact.

What was the most important lesson you learned during your internship?
There are a few things that stick out to me -- be bold, be adaptable, and be ready to learn.

• Boldness is important because you have to step out of your comfort zone to grow. 
• Adaptability -  because you need to find a way to leverage your skills to provide value to the company. 
• Readiness to learn - because if you are given an assignment you don't know how to do, you are still expected to deliver results. 

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge I had was trying to figure out solutions to the problems given to me, and how to implement those solutions. I overcame it by asking a lot of questions about the problem, thinking outside of the box to find solutions, and finding/learning the tools needed to produce a result.

How has Shaw University prepared you for your internship and future career? 
Shaw has prepared me by having great professors that gave me projects to do outside of class. They challenge me every day to work on my passion. During my internship, I learned new and different things and was able to apply the core skills I learned while working on side projects at Shaw.

What are your plans after graduating?
My plans after graduating are to work full-time at a company doing software development.

What are your long-term career plans and goals?
Long-term, I would like to work at a larger company for a few years to learn how the industry works while honing my skills and my ability to provide a company value. Afterward, I would either like to pursue management as a lead developer in a company, work in a startup, or pursue entrepreneurship in the technical space.