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’re up to now.
Today we meet Harshavardhan who recently graduated with a bachelor’s in technology from Amity University Kolkata in India.
Responses have been edited for clarity and length.
When did you join the Student Ambassadors community?
I joined the Student Ambassadors community back in 2022.
What was being a Student Ambassador like?
Being a student ambassador has always been nothing short of a journey of exploring, learning, connecting and growing to innovate solutions that can shape the future and redefine the way we work. It has helped me in a lot of perspectives from being just a student to a community leader who has brought change in the society by using Azure to build innovations addressing education, vision, common but life-saving medical issues and building a community to bring together people who can help each other in different fields, gain perspective and help everyone build.
It has made me into a strong community leader, an innovator who is taking thousands and building them into community leaders who would carry on with the process.
The first hackathon organized by Harshavardhan and the very first hackathon in his college.
Was there a specific experience you had while you were in the program that had a profound impact on you and why?
Yes, there are multiple moments that have left an impact on me: while conducting seminars and workshops, meeting with MVPs, creating projects and taking part in different initiatives.
The one that had helped me grow a lot was organizing, managing & speaking at Azure Developer Day Kolkata sponsored with Azure Developer Community where Sourav Ganguly and Ambarish Ganguly, ex MVP had joined us too. It was my first time organizing a solo event at such a large scale. which helped me a lot to understand, learn and build my skills on how to organize, interact, manage and speak.
Harshavardhan at his latest event at Microsoft office, Gurugram where he shared how you can build an AI Text Translator app in 1 hour!
Tell us about a technology you had the chance to gain a skillset in as a Student Ambassador. How has this skill you acquired helped you in your post-university journey?
The best thing I learned was Azure. I have cracked 7 certifications which includes: AZ-102, DP-100, MCE-100, AI-900, DP-900, PL-900, AZ-900. I learned almost everything about Azure, especially about Azure AI services which has helped me a lot in gaining the new cutting-edge skills that are required and building faster innovations with the prebuilt models.
This skill has helped me a lot in building cloud solutions during different hackathons and in my company using prompt flow, Azure ML models and AI services. The leadership and teamwork skills helped me a lot in becoming a great speaker, mentor and community leader. Now I am handling a growing community of over 1,000 members, which has helped me become a GitHub Campus Expert.
What is something you want all students, globally, to know about the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Program?
I want them to know that this is a program that is different from all other programs that's out there.
- It allows you to go beyond any boundaries of the region, college. You have the capability to host and build communities anywhere.
- Get mentorship sessions from top mentors
- Get the preview of the best tools coming out soon
What advice would you give to new Student Ambassadors, who are just starting in the program?
The advice I would give them is that they should not join the program just for swags, they should look beyond. Make use of Azure credits to build and innovate and try new things as much as they can.
Make use of the sessions and learn from them, ask questions, and interact. Finally, share your gained knowledge with others and find fun ways to act upon them.
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?
Never stop hustling. I chose this because I believe we should be unstoppable and never stop hustling because we don't know what's next.
It means like a motto, inspiration to me which helps me a lot in staying positive and motivated.
Tell us something interesting about you, about your journey.
The best thing about this journey was from being just a student to becoming MLSA then cracking other ambassador programs, writing articles on Azure during my internship, cracking certificates and building solutions to winning Hackathons.
During this journey I also built a community of my own, giving multiple sessions starting from just 10 attendees to 1000+ attendees. From virtual to offline events. I am now giving virtual sessions globally with MVPs out there and becoming a GitHub Campus Expert.
Harshavardhan’s first time as a speaker at a college in a different city! DevsHouse - VIT Chennai
You can follow Harshavardhan here:
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