This is the next segment of our blog series highlighting Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors who achieved the Gold milestone, the highest level attainable, 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 are up to now.
Today we meet Victor Olet who recently graduated with a Chemical Engineering/Computational Chemistry PhD from Curtin University in Australia.
Responses have been edited for clarity and length.
When did you join the Student Ambassadors community?
2020
What was being a Student Ambassador like?
It has been a wonderful learning experience from both a technical and a cultural perspective, having had the opportunity to interact with students from all around the world!
Was there a specific experience you had while you were in the program that had a profound impact on you and why?
I had the opportunity to be mentored by Microsoft Cloud Advocate, Renee Noble in 2022. This turned out to be a turning point for me as we went on to work closely over various student programs for over 2 years. Through Renee, I became a recurring guest on the Microsoft Reactor Channel, sharing on the Student Ambassador program, doing Python workshops, and sharing my PhD research on computational chemistry and how I specially use VS (Visual Studio) Code for it. I was also her co-host for the 2022 Microsoft Student Summit which was broadcast to over 3,000 students in live stream and recording. My experience with Renee really gave me confidence in my own abilities and helped me realize that we are more than capable of affecting great change in our respective communities.
Tell us about a technology you had the chance to gain a skillset as a Student Ambassador. How has this skill you acquired helped you in your post-university journey?
VS Code is a tool that I have become quite proficient in using through the program. As part of social impact projects, doing demos for student programs and in Microsoft Reactor sessions, I have learned flows that I would not have noticed my own. I use these skills a lot as a computational chemist – to the point where my entire computational chemistry workflow runs on VS Code.
What is something you want all students, globally, to know about the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Program?
The Student Ambassador Program is for everyone, whether you have a tech background or not, whether you are doing a tech degree or not. I have benefited tremendously from the program as a chemical engineering student. Technology interfaces all fields and the Student Ambassador Program emulates this wonderfully.
Victor received the Windows Insider MVP (Microsoft Most Valuable Professional) award in 2023. He credits his engagement in the MLSA (Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors) program for his nomination.
What advice would you give to new Student Ambassadors, who are just starting in the program?
Make friends – it is a rare experience to relate to students from all around the world! The friends you make here provide immense value in your own personal and career journey outside the program.
Share a favorite quote with us! It can be from a movie, a song, a book, or someone you know personally. Tell us why you chose this. What does it mean for you?
"It contributes greatly towards [one’s] moral and intellectual health, to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike [themselves], who care little for [their] pursuits, and whose sphere and abilities they must go out of themselves to appreciate." This is a quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter. The challenge for me is to learn to step in the world of others – to connect and relate with them to the point they account me as one belonging to their world!
Tell us something interesting about you, about your journey.
My most interesting experiences in the Student Ambassadors program have been hearing of the lived experiences of others in distinct parts of the world. There are times I would have video calls with others, and we just talk about our own journeys and life experiences. These were wonderful times.
You can follow Victor here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorolet/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/victorolet
GitHub: https://github.com/victorolet
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oletvictor/
Learn more about the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program.
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