During Ahmed Saeed’s first semester on campus, he didn’t think about getting involved — he drove to campus for class and then drove home. But during his second semester, the 2019 College of Engineering and Computer Science graduate decided to take a chance and get involved. That led to becoming a member in several organizations and later serving as a leader.  “I loved the added responsibility, the determination to succeed. I wanted something for others just as much as I wanted it for myself. This new craving was something I never experienced before, and I loved it.”

Once Ahmed got involved, he wanted to reach out to others and let them know getting involved on campus and in the community can help push them forward, too — both personally and professionally.

Ahmed, in his own words

On goals and good deeds. “My long-term life goal would be to combine both my undergraduate software engineering degree and my current MBA degree and find a way to give back to the community that has given me so much. I just want to be a person in the community that people can turn to for advice on professional development of the next generation of our leaders. Whether it may be creating or joining a nonprofit or developing the next community-focused mobile application, I just want to provide support wherever needed.”

On teaching future leaders. “When I joined the Association for Computing Machinery [ACM], I didn't know the effect that this organization would have on my life. When I was elected president of ACM — which is known for spreading awareness about computer science and technology — I wanted to also bring awareness of computer science to middle school students. So, I worked with staff from Lowery Middle School in Dearborn and about 10 members from my ACM chapter to begin a 10-week afterschool programming course. There were 30 middle school students who began the course with zero programming skills and three months later were capable of building capstone projects in Python, and reading and explaining what each line of code did as it related to the entire project. This partnership with Lowery Elementary School continued even after I graduated. It made me realize that not only did I love seeing the growth, but I loved being able to teach it and watch these individuals — these future leaders — grow.”