This is the next segment of our blog series highlighting Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors who achieved the Gold milestone and have recently graduated from university. Each blog in the series features a different student and highlights their accomplishments, their experience with the Student Ambassador community, and what they’re up to now.
Today we meet Abril Urena who is from Mexico and recently graduated from the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon with a degree in Software Engineering.
Responses have been edited for clarity and length.
When you joined the Student Ambassador community in January of 2021, did you have specific goals you wanted to reach, such as a particular skill or quality?
I wanted to improve my knowledge of Azure and web accessibility and meet people from all over the world. I have accomplished these goals, as I have been certified in AZ-900 in the past year, and I have met amazing people from around the world.
What were the accomplishments that you’re the proudest of and why?
I organized and participated in approximately 30 events as a Student Ambassador (3 hackathons, 6 mentorships, 1 bootcamp, and many talks and workshops), and I am happy and proud of all of them.
The following are a few highlights:
- Along with two friends I met in the Student Ambassador community, I co-founded two student communities--Lambda Club MX (Facebook and Instagram) and Nube Asada – ATG (Facebook and Instagram). By sharing technological knowledge for free, we have had a positive impact on many students in Mexico.
- I had the great fortune of participating in almost all TechTogether hackathons as a mentor. It was an amazing experience that I recommend to others.
- Last year I helped organize Warmi in Tech (Facebook and Instagram):, a free 3-week bootcamp that encourages women to pursue careers in technology. We had more than 200 women from different countries in Latin America participate.
Some of the hackathons I organized:
- The HackLATAM event with my amazing friends from the Student Ambassador community, in which over 300 participants came from Latin America.
- I co-organized a UANL IT Summit with Microsoft Mexico, my university, and some friends from the Microsoft Learn Ambassador program. A total of 300 students from my university attended this hackathon.
What are you doing now that you’ve graduated?
I’m a Cloud Advocate at Microsoft: I will be helping students and educators with Microsoft Services adoption via Visual Studio Code.
I’m also still learning about front-end development in addition to other coding topics, as well as supporting more people in my two student communities. Let's see what the road brings 😄
If you could redo your time as a Student Ambassador, is there anything you would have done differently?
I enjoyed my time here. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to join the program as soon as I entered the university. I would have loved to have been part of this program for a longer period, but unfortunately, I was only informed about it in my last period as a student.
If you were to describe the community to a student who is interested in joining, what would you say about it to convince him or her to join?
If you want to make friends all over the world who have a lot in common: this is the place. It will be an amazing experience, and you will be able to help more people and learn a lot about technology to make the world a better place.
I think about all the opportunities the program has given us to learn and meet people. I have met so many incredible people throughout this program that a part of me does not want to leave. It is why I find it difficult to let go and leave because of all the friends I have made here and the amazing experiences I have had.
What advice would you give to new Student Ambassadors?
Be sure to take advantage of the time you have as a Student Ambassador, make lots of friends, and participate in as many events as possible, but don't overload yourself with events, and don't stop going to school!. Always keep your mental health in mind, and do not overload yourself with activities, as this can wear you out quickly.
What is your motto in life, your guiding principle?
Be the person you needed when you were younger.
What is one random fact about you that few people are aware of?
I love learning languages, traveling, meeting new people, watching make-up tutorials, and baking cakes! This is the last cake I baked, a guava cheesecake (pay de guayaba).
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Good luck to you in all your endeavors, Abril!
Readers, you can find Abril on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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