Challenges make you push your boundaries and help you grow. So when Omar was left with no choice but to leave his country due to war in Syria, he decided to transition his career. And in this journey, he chose Udacity as a partner.
Omar enrolled for iOS Developer Nanodegree program to begin with and then skilled himself with multiple Nanodegree programs including Android Basics, Front End, React and Deep Learning Foundation.
We are proud to have enabled Omar to change his life. Here’s his story in his own words.
About Myself and My Early Life
My name is Omar Albeik, I’m 29 years old. I live in Amsterdam and work as a software engineer at Backbase where we build tools to help deliver next-level digital banking.
Back in Syria, I was studying Mechatronics at the University of Aleppo and in 2012 the war left me with no choice but to leave the country with my family. I joined the family business and went to China and Taiwan to work in sales, and then moved back to Egypt and started my restaurant in Cairo. Luckily, I didn’t find myself in both my endeavors and failed. I moved to Turkey then due to the unstable political situation in Egypt.
The Big Decision
Once I came to Istanbul, I started learning the software. I had an idea for a tiny mobile game and started learning to program.
While the game didn’t sell well, yet I had it very clear in my mind, more than being a sales professional and having a restaurant, I wanted to be a software developer!
I searched for a program to lead me through iOS development and found a very nice course from Udacity, the iOS Developer Nanodegree program. It took me 6 months to graduate. It was an awesome experience to build a portfolio of apps, put them on Github and get professional feedback from experienced developers on my code!
Afterward, I took many Nanodegree programs to learn more about various software topics.
The iOS Nanodegree helped me to build a strong foundation about Swift, iOS, and software in general, while other Nanodegrees like React and front-end helped me build my own blog.
Life, as it is now!
I feel extremely lucky because I get to work on what I love. Udacity helped find my passion for software and to build the skills that I use at work.
I believe Nanodegree programs are a great option for anyone looking to learn a new skill or improve their skills in a software-related domain to improve their career or switch careers completely just like what I did.
They help students by learning from the best, building a collection of projects, and collaborating with a wide community of fellow students.
Thank you Udacity!
We are proud of you, Omar. Thank you for being an inspiration to all of us. Read more such stories here.
