An investment in the future: Microsoft MVPs and the need for mentorship

I have to admit that at my age I spend more time looking backwards, not forwards. Not as much time left on the trail. Quite a while back I began thinking about apprenticeship systems. Part of this was driven by my friends' sons in Germany who were currently in such a program. The other was thinking about how skilled craftsmen were developed before the Industrial Revolution. Why couldn't some of those principles be applied to skilled professions such as software consulting? This article stems from those thoughts.

An opportunity presents itself

Early in 2017, I was honored to receive the Microsoft MVP award. I was attending an MVP event in Atlanta with both MVPs and Microsoft Student Partners. One of the student partners, Veaceslav Cretu, gave a very impressive speech. In addition to all his other activities, he had founded a charitable organization to improve computer literacy in the high schools of his home country, the Republic of Moldova. Although I had no idea where Moldova was, I was very impressed with his personality and enthusiasm. I approached him and said "You do not look much like a developer. How would you like to learn something about implementation consulting?" He indicated he was interested and then I launched the prototype of what I am calling the Microsoft MVP mentorship program. I do want to clarify that this is not currently a Microsoft sanctioned endeavor. I'm hoping that will change someday, but it is a program centered around Microsoft technologies.

The journey begins

Before I start here, I believe it's important to understand something about this very unique individual, Veaceslav Cretu. Besides school and a full-time job, he is also involved in volunteer activities where he advocates for an affordable and equitable education. ...