A World of Opportunity

For Brandon Anderson, saying “yes” to opportunities has defined his Marshall experience. From studying abroad in Spain and Oxford to landing an internship at Intuit in Silicon Valley, Brandon, a computer science major, has discovered how far a Marshall education can take him.

Brandon grew up in Portsmouth, Ohio, along the Ohio River. This summer, he’s gaining skills as a security engineering intern on Intuit’s Platform Engineering team in Silicon Valley.

“It was definitely shocking when I first arrived [in California] because Portsmouth is a very small town, but here there is a Fortune 500 tech company on every corner,” said Brandon, who will be graduating in May 2027.

Marshall was always a top choice for Brandon, but his decision was finalized when he was offered a full scholarship through the Society of Yeager Scholars program.

“Marshall was always a school that I considered throughout high school. I visited campus and really enjoyed my experience. The deal was sealed when I was accepted into the Society of Yeager Scholars,” he said.

His path to computer science started long before college. Brandon’s interest in video games and technology led him to summer tech camps as a kid, and he continued teaching himself to program through high school before deciding to pursue it as a career.

“A degree in computer science lays the foundation for a variety of software-related careers,”

Brandon said. “It is a broad field of study that allows you to specialize in a particular domain.”

As a Yeager Scholar, Brandon’s Marshall experience has taken him well past Huntington. He studied abroad in Spain and traveled to Oxford University alongside the rest of his Yeager cohort, opportunities he says wouldn’t have been possible without Marshall.

Landing the Intuit internship required an online application and several rounds of interviews that tested his technical and soft skills, as well as his fit with the company.

“I was very stressed during the interview process, so getting the call that I had been offered the job felt like a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders,” he said. “I immediately called my friends and family to share the good news.”

Brandon says one professor in particular was especially supportive throughout the process.

“The professor who has given me the most guidance in pursuing this internship and throughout my time at Marshall is Dr. Paulus Wahjudi,” Brandon said. “I go to him whenever I have a question about school or need career advice, and he is always able to point me in the right direction.”

At Intuit, Brandon usually starts his days with a stand-up meeting to report on his progress, followed by one-on-one check-ins with his mentor and managers. He spends the rest of his time working toward a summer project he’ll present at the end of the internship.

The biggest lesson from Brandon’s internship so far hasn’t been a specific technical skill, but learning to navigate the scale of a large tech company’s engineering process.

“A big takeaway that I can apply to the classroom is the way my team manages and organizes its work,” he said. “I can bring some of the strategies my team uses into my group projects at Marshall to keep tasks organized and ensure everyone has a voice during meetings.”

Even though Brandon didn’t think he would get the internship, he decided to take a chance and apply anyway — a decision that changed his life, he said.

“When I first applied for this internship, I honestly didn’t think I had much of a chance of getting the position,” he said. “I’m incredibly grateful that I took the chance anyway because it led to an experience I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career.”

Along with work, Brandon has explored San Francisco, toured Alcatraz Island and driven the Pacific Coast Highway along California State Route 1.

Looking ahead, Brandon hopes the internship leads to a job offer, but even if it doesn’t, he says the experience itself is one he’ll carry forward.