Mauricio Muñoz is a Software Engineering student at CETYS University International Campus in Ensenada. He will have a stay at the largest and most important social media company in the world.

After being accepted for summer internships at two of the world’s biggest tech companies, Mauricio Muñoz will depart this week for Facebook’s headquarters, now Meta, in Menlo Park, California, in the United States, to take part in the Meta University program.

José Mauricio Muñoz-Dieguez is an 18-year-old student from Baja California currently enrolled in the second semester of Software Engineering at CETYS University International Campus in Ensenada and is about to achieve his greatest dream so far, to have a stay in one of the world’s tech giants.

Passionate about programming, Mauricio surrounded himself with people, now friends, with similar tastes. It was one of them who informed him and motivated him to apply for academic stays.

“I did not know there were programs for students like me, who are starting their professional studies. At first, I applied for a stay at Microsoft without giving it much thought; shortly afterward I learned more about the opportunities, and I also applied to take part in Meta. This was months before the end of 2021,” commented Mauricio.

After going through the entire process for both Microsoft and Meta, which includes exams and interviews, Mauricio received the news that he had been accepted for a 10-week summer stay at the Meta headquarters, in Menlo Park, Calif.

“I was eating with my parents when I got the call. At first, I didn’t answer the call. Then I saw the missed call and realized it was from San Francisco. I called back, and they told me I was selected. I was thrilled, and a few days later I also received an offer from Microsoft,” said the student.

His decision to accept Meta’s proposal is because he feels the name change and the technology they develop would make him more interested in learning, working, and contributing to the Metaverse. In addition, he believes that because of his youth he could do well there.

Mauricio likes to play the piano, go out with friends, and enjoys playing board games, but he spends most of his free time programming. He likes web and mobile applications, and one of his dreams is to work as a programmer at Meta, so he is determined to perform well during his stay to go back every year until he gets a job.

“I am also very excited to know that I will meet people from all over the world with the same interests as me. In the program I am going to take part in, we are about 300 students, of which around 15 are from Mexico, plus those who will go to other programs for students in the last semesters of their careers.

Create a club to motivate more students.

Mauricio believes that the low participation rate of Mexican students in these programs is because of a lack of information. Therefore, supported by his coordinator and program director at CETYS, he created the Intern Club, whose aim is to inform, support, and motivate other students of CETYS Ensenada to apply for stays in different companies around the world.

“A friend helped me when I didn’t know I could apply. I also didn’t know that the companies pay the stays in full. All we have to do is apply and really want to do it; that is what I want to share with my classmates; I would like them to give themselves this opportunity because I think they are capable of doing well, and I want to help them fulfill their dreams as somebody helped me; I would also like to see more participation from Mexican students,” concluded Mauricio.