MIU student Mohamed Hassan
With Adjunct Professor Jim Bagnola during a Leadership for Technical Managers class
Mohamed (front center) in his first class, the Science and Technology of Consciousness, with students and teaching assistant Christine Albers (top center)
MIU student Mohamed Alfidil Hassan left his war-torn country of Sudan in 2016 to seek a better life and career opportunities in the US. Even though he had a green card and a degree in architecture, he couldn’t find a job in his field, so he took a customer service position in the airline industry working 14-17 hours a day to support himself and his family.
Then a friend told him about MIU’s new Master’s in Software Development program and encouraged him to apply. Mohamed knew he had to earn a US degree to find a better job and, after doing some research, he realized the IT job market offered great opportunities. MIU’s master’s program does not require experience in software development, and Mohamed passed the aptitude test for problem solving skills and enrolled in the summer of 2019.
“Software development is nice, it’s interesting and beautiful, and I enjoy working with computers,” he said. “The fun part is that it is challenging, and I love dedicating myself to something that stimulates me intellectually.”
Mohamed only knew about meditation from movies and TV shows, but when he learned the Transcendental Meditation® technique he realized it helps him with fatigue and exam anxiety.
“Meditating for 15 or 20 minutes settles me down and helps me focus,” said Mohamed. “I think it will help when I graduate, move to a new city to start a new job, and have to learn everything about a new company and environment.”
Mohamed feels confident he can find a job because he is gaining the most up-to-date knowledge in software development.
“To study for one year and get an interesting and challenging job that starts at $65,000 instead of $40,000, work 8 hours a day versus 17 hours, and have paid holidays and health insurance, that’s great!”
Mohamed is finishing his courses in August and will be applying for JavaScript developer positions.