Ahmadz Village

By: Muhanad Omar
[Hello from the World! series]

Well, I promised Ahmad I’d write this post over 3 weeks ago, and even though I’m extremely late, I’ve always believed in the saying "Better late than never!"

So let me introduce myself. My name is Muhanad Omar, and from the title of this post you should’ve probably already figured out that I’m from Jordan I had the great pleasure of meeting Ahmad through the Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) Program, and even though I’m considered as a "MSP Alumni" since I graduated from university earlier this year, I still remember my student life like it was just yesterday.

Like many MSP’s, I studied Computer Science in university. It was my first choice when I enrolled into university, but to my surprise, it was a lot harder than I expected

I started programming at the age of 11, so the programming courses weren’t that hard. What was hard were the MATH courses! Calculus I, Calculus II, Discrete Math, and Statistics. I HATED those clasess, and I’m pretty sure that every student that studied Computer Science with me hated them as well!

Other than those difficult courses that gave every IT student nightmares, student life in Jordan is pretty laid back and fun. During my first year, Microsoft launched the ".NET Club" initiative within selected universities in Jordan, and through the .NET Club, students like myself were able to excel at what they loved to do– be geeks! LOL. We formed a community that loved to talk about Microsoft technologies, and that by itself made the life of any IT student that much more fun.

In 2005, Microsoft launched an event called "Microsoft Academic Day" aka M@D. This event was probably the best thing Microsoft did for students within the country. Basically, it was an event for Students by Students. I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the students to present in 2006. Not only did they give me the chance to present, but they gave me the chance to present Windows Vista for the first time in Jordan It was my first time to ever speak in front of a crowd of people (300 to be exact) so you can imagine how nervous I was, but it was definitely an experience of a life time!

So back to the subject– Student Life in Jordan. Well, there’s not much to say other than it’s a whole lot of fun! Thanks to the efforts of our great universities and Microsoft’s envolvement in academic relations, going to university in the morning is something to look forward to! Add the MSP Program into the mix, and every IT/Computer Engineering student has a reason to be passionate about technology.

Well, that’s all for me folks. Thank you Ahmad for inviting me to contribute to your blog. I’ll be glad to do it again anytime

Best Regards,

Muhanad Omar

(Petra, ancient city in Jordan)