✨I was always too nervous, but I did it! 

📝 My name is Noor EL-Hawwat and I am the very first IBM Z Systems Ambassador at Rutgers University-Newark. Taking up this position for my university and my career has been a tremendous privilege that I am very proud to hold. Now that the program is meeting its halfway mark, the time has come to highlight the activities I contributed throughout the semester as well as the series of glows I gained along the way.

🏆 September 7 came with a chilly greeting as I entered my Junior year knowing I would be busier than my peers from the leadership opportunities I planned to pursue. I began this experience by cooperating with a group of technical leaders that host my university’s only standing Computer Science club: the Computer Science Developer’s Club. Together, we coordinated a hackathon that would be the first one on campus post Covid with a central theme of IBM Z Systems. The beginning of this preparation had me in a jumble of fears and doubts as it had been my first time playing as a host for a large scale event, let alone a hackathon. It was through the training I received from my peers, advice from IBMer Lucas Sahn, and reassurances from former ambassador Caitlin Mooney and IBM intern Vraj Patel that I broke through my barrier and brought Z Systems to my campus. We overall had a total of 40+ student competitors and 6 project submissions using mainframe.

🖥️ While I gained tangible growth as a hackathon host, I still had not felt a personal progress as an ambassador. What I needed was to be in a position where I solely led my own event and had complete autonomy on my audience’s takeaway of Z Systems technology. This led me to asking the Computer Science Developer’s Club president for a role as a primary host of an upcoming event, to which he agreed. It was then that I suddenly felt a drastic chill down my spine that I unknowingly elevated myself much higher to becoming an independent leader while my public speaking skills were tugging me back. Once it sunk in that I would unavoidably host my own event, I used the remaining days prior to maximize my public speaking skills and understanding of mainframe technology by reaching out to my mentors Sugam Kafle, Rachel Head, and Martti Grimminick. I then entered my event’s room with complete confidence in what I would say and how I would answer a dictionary of questions on the Z Systems technology I would educate my audience. It became a successful event on a ZXplore tutorial that inspired 7 students to get involved and earn their own badges in the platform.

🎬Having acquired a significant boost in my public speaking skills and abilities to express Z Systems technology with ease, I swiftly returned to the club’s president to host a third and final event for the semester. It was a space for a guest speaker Caitlin Mooney to expand on her experience in mainframe and the plethora of benefits that come with pursuing a career in the industry. While merely 7 students attended, we had an engaging conversation where Caitlin and I highlighted our benefits and recommendations for initiating our ZSystems experiences. We ended off on a satisfied note with a firm foundation of the IBM and Rutgers University-Newark connection and a strong close for the semester.

💕This semester has been a tribulation of ups and downs, but the Ambassador Program held everything in place. I am incredibly grateful for this program in bringing me so far on my professional career path and I look forward to proceeding my experience as a student ambassador and seeing where it will take me and my university!

🌟Next semester goal: accumulating enough student interest to create a club on IBM Z Systems and my ultimate legacy I will leave on campus upon graduation.  

🏅The IBM certifications I earned are as follows: