What now for the class of 2014: Derrick Casson

As the College of Technology’s May 2014 graduates complete their time at Purdue, we are profiling a few and finding out their future plans and how they arrived at this point in their lives.

Derrick CassonDerrick Casson, Indianapolis, Ind.
Systems support engineer for JP Morgan Chase, Chicago, Ill.

Education
Bachelor’s degree in computer and information technology

Job duties

  • Diagnose problems, resolve issues, configure and maintain workstations and servers, while ensuring data integrity.
  • Managing hardware and software, I will assess the technology capabilities of the systems to make sure they are performing at an optimal level.

Purdue classes that helped Derrick for his job

  • Business Analysis
  • Database Programming
  • Managing IT Projects
  • Object Oriented Programming
  • Database Management

Other ways the College of Technology and/or Purdue provided preparation and assistance
The Department of Computer and Information Technology is a very close-knit department, and all of the professors are there to help you succeed, which helped out a lot. The career fairs were really helpful in allowing me to get my name out there and shine the way I wanted to.

Thanks go to:

  • My parents, because without them and their support I would not be here. There were several times where I wanted to give up, but they encouraged me not to, to keep going, and assuring me there was a bright future ahead of me.  Hearing the words "I'm so proud of you" meant so much to me and made it all worth it. I owe this all to them.
  • Toni Munguia. She was there whenever I needed her, whether it was just a person to talk to or someone to make sure I was doing what I was supposed to be doing.