How to become a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador (MLSA) and host your first event

Learn. Teach. Connect.

It doesn’t matter if you are a fresher or a final year bachelor’s student or a master’s student, you can apply ! All you need is passion for technology.

By enrolling in Microsoft student ambassadors program (earlier Microsoft student partner), you can -

1. Upskill yourself by Microsoft courses, get mentored by Microsoft professionals, earn badges and certificates.
2. Host events, workshops and hackathons at your college, teach people how to code and become a LEADER.
3. Network with global community.

I got to know about this program last year (2020) in early may and by 12th of may, I completed and submitted my application. I got selection mail on 7th August.
Right now, I am in my final year of engineering.

PERKS

• Microsoft swags and goodies
• USD150 monthly Azure credits
• Office 365, Visual Studio Enterprise, Techsmith Snagit and Camtasia softwares for free.
• MTC certification exam vouchers and LinkedIn learning free for 6 months.
• Mentorship and networking with Microsoft professionals.
  and much more !

Excited ? Apply now !

STEPS TO FOLLOW

1. Visit their official website, click on ‘Apply Now’ and Sign up.
2. Application form consists of basic information, written sample, technology skills, resume and a short video introduction.
3. Make a video explaining your passion for technology and why you want to join the program. Upload it on YouTube (or Google drive).
   [My video for reference]
4. Fill the form and submit.

KEEP IN MIND

• You can fill the application form throughout the year. New students are accepted into the program quarterly.
• After submitting, you can edit your application until it goes to the review state by Microsoft. You’ll learn about the deadline date while filling the application form.
• Do not skip filming the video; it increases your chance of getting selected !

SELECTED ? NOW WHAT ?

MILESTONES

Once you are selected for the program, you can achieve the following milestones. Each milestone has it own benefits.

1. Alpha -Complete a Microsoft Learn path and unlock Azure credits and your Visual Studio Enterprise subscription benefit. You’ll also receive a certification voucher, and a free domain name.
2. Beta - Get loaded with the swag kit. Host an event in your community to unlock event support and resource benefits. This effort could include an invitation to join our annual Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Summit.
3. Gold - Get invited to the Gold milestone when you’ve gone above and beyond in earning your badges and serving your local community. You’ll become a Student Ambassadors Regional Leader, gain access to special events, and may be invited to become a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP).

LEAGUES

Leagues are designed to allow you to engage in topics you are passionate about while enabling you to develop skills, share knowledge with your communities and get professional mentorship.
You can join any two leagues, including one technical and one social impact league.

Technical Leagues

• AI and Machine Learning
• Data and Analytics
• Emerging Technologies
• Internet of Things
• Mobile and Development
• Low Code Development

Social Impact Leagues

• Digital Accessibility
• Education
• Green Tech
• Healthcare

HOST EVENTS AND BECOME TECH ROCKSTAR !

After you get a little comfortable with Azure, Visual Studio Code, PowerBI or any other Microsoft service, it’s time to host an event/workshop where you would teach others about the skills you acquired.

FEW TIPS

• Collaborate with fellow MLSAs and decide upon a topic that you find interesting, impact worthy and are comfortable in teaching.
• Invest most of the time in deciding the topic and exact content.
• Ready the promotional stuffs like poster, messages, registration forms to be sent on different platform before 3 to 4 days of the actual event.
• Send emails with event link to registered people in advance and also on the day of event to avoid any mishap.
• Deliver what you promised- Don’t let the listeners get bored with you reading from the presentation. Show them some practical demo of things in action!

I collaborated with my friend, Jil Kothari, for hosting our first event. When we were looking up for topic ideas, there were cliché topics like ‘Getting started with Github’ and ‘Web development using HTML & CSS’ that we tried avoiding and we came up with ‘ ChatBot 101 — Creating and Publishing LUIS app’. We explained some basic chatbot terminology along with demo of Language Understanding app using LUIS and developed a bot from scratch using Microsoft’s Bot Framework. It was a 1.5 hours session and had 50+ participants.

PS: If you are a MLSA, you can watch my event recording here.

Once your first event gets approved, you will be promoted to Beta Milestone and get a goodie bag from Microsoft.

Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity.

So, what are you waiting for ? Apply now !
Watch my application video to get some inspiration.
My event on Chatbot Development is streaming on Microsoft stream.

Let’s connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priya18