Windows Insider article published on Jun 24, 2020
Gomolemo (Gomo) Mohapi has built a life out of helping others. “My personal mission statement is to teach as many people as I can how to code. As long as you can read a bit of code, you have the edge over anyone else in your industry,” he said.
Gomo, a Microsoft Student Partner studying accounting and information technology at Durban University of Technology (DUT), credits his mother and father with nurturing his generosity. “My parents believed in helping as many people as they could and in never turning your back on anyone that needs help,” he said. “If you can just help people, and if someone does better because of what you have done, then that’s all you need in the world.”
During his first year of college, he noticed other students were struggling. Many DUT attendees arrive at college without personal laptops or even decent internet connections. Gomo decided to use his advantages to help. “I wanted to put what I was learning down on paper so that other people could get the same knowledge I had,” he said. “I developed work-throughs and dubbed them homework guides.”
It wasn’t long before Gomo’s study guides became popular. “People started to print them out, so I just developed more and more of them,” he said. “Sometimes textbooks can get a bit tedious, so I added a few jokes and memes to my materials. Programming is a fun thing to do. It should also be a fun thing to learn.”
Today, Gomo has moved beyond the study guides to host one-on-one consultations, workshops, and tutorials at DUT and other schools throughout Durban. He’s even helping students develop tech-based solutions, from AI to chat bots.
He’s thankful to be a Microsoft Student Partner and Windows Insider, which helps him access the latest tech-based solutions and be a more effective leader to the community he’s built.
“What makes the Windows Insider Program so great is that they put people at the center of if all. You can build amazing software, but if it doesn’t benefit the people you’re giving that software to, then what’s the point?”
“I’ve taken that value, and it has become the driving force of what I do in my community. It’s not about if I’m going to make money, it’s not about taking the credit for helping others with tech–it’s about placing power into people’s hands,” he said.
While he’s helped people feel less intimidated by technology, and some have even used their new skills to get jobs, the most satisfying part for Gomo is the feeling of community. “The one result which I’m most proud of is the ‘togetherness’ of being brothers and sisters in tech–where we now have other people to share experiences with. People with the same values and interests as you. Having a community where we’re not afraid of being wrong because we are all learning and growing together. That’s significantly special to me.”
Gomo also thinks that more people should take the risk and start their own communities. “Having a community of people to think, learn, and do things together is empowering, because you see the effects of the interactions first-hand,” he said. “You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain. Use your tech superpower to make a difference.”
How can you begin? Gomo recommends starting small. “All you have to do is encourage or help one person to upskill, and who knows, you might serve as the inspiration for that person to do the same for someone else,” he said. “Before you know it, you’ve caused a ripple effect, and there’s a whole community behind you doing the thing and making change!”
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