This is a blog post for day 28 of the Festive Advent Calendar 2022.
Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors
First of all, the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors (MLSA) community is Microsoft’s student community and its members aim to get acquainted with Microsoft technologies such as Azure, Power Platform, Office 365, etc. The purpose of the members, beyond receiving this knowledge, is the transmission of this knowledge, both to other Ambassadors and to their fellow students at universities. It is a fantastic team because each member gains knowledge, and experience and socializes in the field of technology.
My experience as an MLSA
So, back in 2016, I joined this community and I started giving lectures and talks about Azure IoT and other Microsoft technologies. Since then, I have been actively involved in the tech community, helping other people and giving tech-related lectures. In particular, during the pandemic when I started presenting virtually I found that there was a lot of interest in Azure IoT, so I started giving more and more talks about it. Moreover, I was promoting my talks on social media and that’s how I started connecting with the community through them as well. Then, speaking at an event in December 2020, a former MVP told me that I too could become an MVP too if I continued to give back to the community.
The MVP award
For those who don’t know, the MVP Award is a global program of recognized technology experts and community leaders who actively support technical communities through unique, innovative, and consistent knowledge sharing.
From an MLSA to IoT MVP
So, I build and launched my blog and started writing about Azure IoT. I also continued my talks and my presence on social media. I helped some students by mentoring them, and I also helped in some hackathons. Moreover, I started co-hosting the IoTeaLive Twitch show after Pete Gallagher and Cliff Agius proposed I to participated in that show. All of these helped me to become a Microsoft MVP.
Next steps
Of course, after this award, I am continuing to do all of these I love. Having as a goal to spread awareness around IoT, I will continue researching and evolving my online and offline presence by making knowledge even more accessible to all that are interested in this field. Through my work, I aspire to diversify a sector that predominantly consisted of male employees, and I will try to inspire women of all ages to learn more about technology.
You can do it, too!
If you love Microsoft technologies and like to share your knowledge with the community, start doing it and who knows, you might become an MVP too!!! Select the category you like from MVP Award Categories and start writing blog posts or making videos or sharing your knowledge through social media, and above all help the community to achieve more.
I hope this story helped and maybe inspired even one of you. Don’t hesitate to find me on social media and asked me if you have any questions.
Festive Tech Calendar
This year, Festive Tech Calendar is raising money for the charity @missingpeople.
If you would like to donate, please visit https://festivetechcalendar.com/ or JustGiving.
Closing
Thank you very much for reading this blog post.
I wish you a wonderful new year and all the best to you and your families!
[…] Eve Countdown (GR)”, the “Azure IoT News – December 2022 by Think About IoT”, the “From a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador to IoT Microsoft Most Valuable Professional – MVP”, the “Betatalks the podcast: 46. Building robotics & Azure IoT – with Maria-Anastasia […]