ROOM WITH A POINT OF VIEW

 By Kumkum Ramchandani

 When Waterloo University student Ahinsa Mansukhani met Bill Gates, he shook her hand and said, “Very nice to meet you!” Those few words from the world’s richest man (estimated to have a personal fortune of $45.6 billion) may have meant nothing much to him but for an awestruck admirer they will never be forgotten.

 The student of Math and Business with a focus on Finance has just received two job offers from Microsoft, one in Vancouver and one in Mississauga, and has opted for the latter from January 2006 to August 2006. She has also been interviewed for Macleans magazine for a story on Waterloo.

 Amidst heavy security, Gates jetted into Waterloo on October 13 for his only Canadian stop in a six school North American tour, during which he emphasized how Microsoft hires more students from Waterloo (typically around 50 per year) than any other university. This excludes co-op placements and other short term employment.

 For Ahinsa and hundreds of other lucky students who got to hear their idol speak, this was the chance of a life time. She explained, “Seven hundred students sat captively as they listened to the richest man in the world speak. Thousands who could not get tickets watched attentively in the Student Life Centre and the Davis Centre where live-feeds were running on big screens that the University set up. The presentation started with a video of students from the University who have been working for Microsoft during their co-op terms. He also showed a video in which he acted with the actor from Napolean Dynamite. The video had the students roaring with laughter especially during scenes where Gates danced and fought with a co-star over “tater tots”. It was very well done. The students were in awe of the upcoming gadgets that he demonstrated including the new X-Box. Finally they had a chance to interact with him during a question and answer session asking things like “After years in the business are your passions still the same?”  

She added, “His talk was very interesting. He talked about the future of technology. The part I was impressed by was that while he was talking his passion for his work and learning in general was very obvious and it was quite inspiring. He talked about the Internet and how it has changed the world. This he explained by telling us how, as a kid, he read the world encyclopaedias from A-Z. He noted that that isn’t a very good way to learn because you are jumping from subjects and centuries constantly and how now with the Net this is much easier.”

 “Well, while that was a good point, what struck me most was that while he was a kid he read the world encyclopaedias from A-Z….remarkable!!!!” she marvelled.

 Ahinsa helped in organizing Gates’s visit. Not surprising, since her last co-op was spent in planning Canada Day celebrations in Waterloo, an event attended by 75,000 people! Her organisational capabilities has meant that she has met the Mayor, the Minister of Education, author Robert Munsch, Juno Award nominees and Mike Lazaridis, the CEO of RIM, as well as several other important government officials.

 Bill Gates may have come and gone but his memory will live on….the auditorium at Waterloo will always bring back his presence for the lucky ones who sat there on October 13^th. Meanwhile Ahinsa’s other domain is her “beautiful condominium in Waterloo”. She shares it with four “great girls”. “I have a large raised basement room with its own bathroom and patio. I have a laptop, TV, CD player, mini fridge and guitar. There is a small book shelf mainly clogged up by text books and binders but also a few novels that when I get a chance, love to read. There are posters of sayings, flowers, a black-and-white scene of a couple dancing in the street, and of course, pictures of my friends. There are many closets and dressers filled with way too many clothes and the room has at its centre a queen size bed surrounded by flowers and candles.”