One graduate, five questions, go…
Drumil Shah '18 (Computer & Information Science)
IT Support Specialist, Columbia University Health Department, New York
How did your education prepare you for what you are doing today?
My Old Westbury education played an important role in a smooth transition from school to work life. For example, taking courses with Professors Hai, Basawapatna and Gupta helped me learn everything from internet providers, networking, building vendor applications for mobile, and developing different databases and websites. Additionally, my internship with the ITS Department helped me get to where I am today. I started by supporting the campus community at the Help Desk level, to working in the Network Operation Center, to receiving the opportunity to work on the Active Learning Classroom project in the new campus Library.
What is your greatest professional accomplishment or recent professional accomplishment to date?
This has to be the Active Learning Classroom project in the Library. This project is something unique, and has the best current and upcoming technology. Many campuses will adopt this technology in the future, so I was glad that I was able to be a part of this project at Old Westbury. We transformed normal classroom settings to something new, something better and more collaborative. Professors and students can “BYOD” – bring your own device – to sync for presentations and interactions to transform the teaching style.
What programs do you support at SUNY Old Westbury, and why?
Being an international student coming from India to the United States, the orientation program at Old Westbury really helped me out to get to know about campus life and campus resources. I later got a chance to be an Orientation Leader to give back to the community in a meaningful way.
Do you have advice for current students?
My advice to all the current students, even future students, would be to get more and more involved on campus. Get to know about all the resources you have available to you. For example, Career Planning and Development helps with building a resume, and finding different internships and jobs. The Writing Center, the Math Learning Lab, or even the Library, which has over 25,000 books, can help you grow not just academically, but in becoming more prepared for your future.
What is your favorite memory of your time on campus?
My favorite memory has to be when I had the chance to give a campus tour to SUNY Chancellor Kristina Johnson upon her first visit to the College. This was very important, and a really big moment for me because I got the chance to explain what makes SUNY Old Westbury special, and everything it has to offer to students, staff and faculty.