Anas Bouzoubaa ’12

Computer Science has always been my passion and when I found out about AUP, I was ready to go. I was born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco, and while I wanted to attend an American university, I also wanted to stay close to home, preferably in Europe. I was immediately attracted to the mix of cultures, languages, and students at AUP—I myself am fluent in French, English, and Arabic—and knew that my decision was made!  

While at AUP, I was lucky enough to have a great advisor in Professor Georgi Stojanov, who, as I studied Computer Science, helped me choose my coursework, based on my intended specializations. I was also delighted that I got the chance to work with people from around the world and was able to maintain a very hands-on and practical approach to classes, along with engineering projects every semester. AUP truly changed me. I learned so much, not just academically, but also about how to work with others. The fact that I met people from countries and places where I’d never been before helped provide me with a new perspective, on a lot of things.  

I’ve been to two other universities since AUP and although I enjoyed them, I’ve never found the same mix of cultures  I was exposed to at AUP. I still keep in touch with students and professors, and two of my former classmates are amongst my best friends. I still keep in touch with my professors and visit them every time I’m in Paris.  

AUP gave me strong foundations to pursue both an academic and a professional career in Computer Science. The projects that I did with my colleagues and professors definitely set my resumé apart in applications. I loved Paris and the fact that AUP was right in the middle of the city was one of the best parts of my undergraduate experience. I loved the fact that the campus was a major city and not a small town. In fact, I’ve only been to similar campuses since then, because I can’t imagine it otherwise. Living in Paris during my AUP years also provided me with access to several internships that helped me further my professional experiences.  

After graduating from AUP in 2012, I interned at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, developing software for healthcare. I also worked at a New York-based startup, Cureatr, for a year and a half, as a software engineer. At that point, I decided I wanted to go back to school, so I went to NYU’s Computer Science Department and did research for a semester. After that, I enrolled at Cornell University (at its NYC campus, Cornell Tech) and completed my master’s degree in Computer Science. I’ve also done research in Health Tech while at Cornell Tech and worked as a teaching assistant. I have now graduated joined eBay in New York City as a software engineer.