Because You Gave Us Access, to our future
We may never meet the people at Microsoft who made this possible, but every day, we work inside what you gave us.
We have the pleasure of interacting with Dr. Rigoberto Garcia, as a mentor, as a Professor, and we than him for providing the opportunity of education without cost in our own language.
However, for many of us, before SSAI Institute of Technology and SSAI University, access to professional tools wasn’t just difficult—it was impossible. You see, being part of a socioeconomic disadvantage group or not speaking English, was not the only limitation, we also did not have have licenses, we didn’t have infrastructure, and in many cases, we didn’t even have a clear path forward. What we had was the desire to learn… and the reality that desire alone is not always enough.
When we entered SSAI Institute of Technology, something changed.
We logged in—and for the first time, we were not limited, we did not login with a Gmail or Yahoo account, we logged in with our ssai.institute student account. That made us proud, it made you feel part of a real school, it gave us purpose, and self-pride.
We had the same tools used, that other universities offered their students, and they had to pay for them, what-is-more, we are using the same tools real companies, real projects, real careers:
- Word to write and think clearly.
- Excel to analyze and solve problems.
- Teams to collaborate across countries and time zones.
- OneDrive to store our work—our progress—our future.
It may seem simple from the outside. But for us the student body, it is the difference between watching… and participating.
Because of your donation of 1 million student licenses and 500,000 instructor licenses each year, this wasn’t a one-time opportunity.
It was continuity.
- It meant that new students—year after year—could begin where we began.
- That instructors could teach without limits.
- That classrooms could exist without walls, and learning could happen without interruption.
We come from different places, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Asia Pacific, Africa and even the countries in the Middle East.
Some of us are from communities where access to technology is taken for granted, the United States and Canada. Many of us are not, we are the very poor, the forgotten ones, the ones destine for servitude.
- “Some of us studied late at night after work.”
- “Some of us studied while raising families.”
- “Algunos de nosotros estudiamos en las calles.” (Some of us studied in the streets)
- Some of us studied in environments where simply having a device and a connection was already a challenge.
But when we logged into SSAI Institute of Technology, we are one voice, one student body, regardless of age, or socioeconomic labels, we are researchers, innovators, inventors, philosophers, teachers, but most of all, those tools, made us all equal.
- Not by circumstance—
- but by opportunity, by a kind corporation that saw the vision, that education is more important…
What you give our school is not just software. Microsoft (Bill) What you gave us the ability to build, to collaborate, to create, and to prove to ourselves that we belong in this field. You removed one of the biggest barriers without asking anything in return.
And because of that, many of us are now:
- working in technology
- contributing to our communities
- helping others begin the same journey
There is a phrase we often hear: “Technology empowers people.” I can say, from experience, that this is true—but only when people are given access to it. You gave us that access, and because of that, we are moving forward.
On behalf of the students body of SSAI institute of Technology, SSAI University, past and present:
Thank you for believing that we matter enough to give us access to a better future.
Thank you for making it possible for us to learn, to grow, and to succeed.