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 Ambassadors community, and what they’re up to now.
Today we meet Gino Messmer who is from Germany and recently graduated from Baden Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Karlsruhe with a degree in Applied Computer Science.
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 didn’t have any specific goals since I wanted to experience the program without any expectations and rather wanted to see what came up and what it offered. When I joined, I was slightly overwhelmed with everything that was going on, but I knew that I wanted to experience the community to its fullest! For me, it was clear that I was going to be part of the community for a year maximum since it was my final year at the university, and as a result, my goal was to unleash my curiosity and contribute to the community.
Thanks to my previous hobby and professional experience, I already had skills in software engineering. My mission was (and still is) to share my knowledge with the community. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to advance my other skills though. While my technical skills were already established, I wanted to advance my soft skills, which I successfully did! I joined various events hosted by Microsoft employees and Gold Ambassadors as my mentors and learned valuable skills from them.
I believe sharing is caring, and this is exactly how the community has impacted me and how I hopefully have impacted others.
What were the accomplishments that you’re the proudest of and why?
It’s difficult for me to pick the biggest accomplishment because I think that every accomplishment is unique, no matter how big or small. In general, I think I was and am always glad to see when I can inspire or help other members with confidence. Speaking of confidence, I have become less nervous when I’m exposed to new situations, such as when I spoke at the Cloud Summit 2021 in front of a live public audience with a fellow Gold Ambassador, and when I was interviewed for the new Student Ambassador promo video and the Low Code Bot project on the Microsoft 365 Developers YouTube channel.
I have celebrated every milestone whenever I had the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone. Obviously, the Gold milestone is the one I am proudest of and that has allowed me to achieve more. [Editor’s note: Gold is the highest status level one can achieve as a Student Ambassador and can only be attained via nomination by the program’s Community Program Managers or by other Golds].
Reaching these milestones feels great and I’m very certain that I will keep them in my memories forever. I wish that other Student Ambassadors will also celebrate and appreciate their accomplishments, no matter how small or big.
What are you doing now that you’ve graduated?
Before I graduated, I applied for an Apps Consultant position at Microsoft and received an offer in October. I’m now part of the Industry Solutions organization within Microsoft. My mission is to help customers design and implement their huge enterprise projects so they can achieve more. This will give me the opportunity to skill up even more in terms of technical skills and soft skills. I look forward to sharing my new knowledge and experience internally and externally, to experiencing my first Microsoft project, and tp everything beyond in this new journey!
If you could redo your time as a Student Ambassador, is there anything you would have done differently?
I should have applied and joined sooner especially since I was in my final year, but then again, I’m glad that I applied and was accepted to the program while I was still eligible.
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?
I would tell them that they will probably find a place for their purpose here. As a Student Ambassador, you will learn so many different skills from professionals which academia may not teach you.
What advice would you give to new Student Ambassadors?
- Take it slowly
- Don’t compare yourself to others because everyone advances at their own pace
- Don’t just be there for the advertised benefits
- Uncover and engage with the hidden benefits - the program is full of surprises
- Even when you reach the Alpha, Beta or Gold milestone, there’s always more to achieve
- Meet people and build a decent network
- Don’t force yourself to do things you are not into; do the things you’re into with passion instead
- You can learn it all rather than know it all
What is your motto in life, your guiding principle?
Be pleasantly surprised by everything that happens. Life is more fun that way.
- Lex Fridman
I learned that setting high expectations in situations that are out of my control that are not fulfilled can upset me.. As a result, I just let some things happen and be pleasantly surprised by their outcome.
What is one random fact about you that few people are aware of?
Despite my name being Italian, I’m not Italian. My parents love Italian names; my younger brother happens to be named Adrian.
People used to call me ‘Gino Cappuccino’ in kindergarten and school. And yes! I’m a coffee lover! My parents and grandparents even gifted a coffee machine after my graduation. Can’t wait to set it up in my new home office!
Good luck to you in all your endeavors, Gino!
Readers, you can find Gino on LinkedIn, Linktree, and GitHub.