Helping People and Fulfilling Childhood Dreams: Why Many Kazakhstanis Are Moving Into IT

How can you tell if IT is truly your passion? With programming becoming increasingly popular, this is a question that today’s students are asking themselves more and more. Both high school and university students are exploring this rapidly expanding field. However, not everyone manages to master it.

We spoke with successful graduates of Samsung Innovation Campus. They shared insights on how to cultivate a passion for programming, overcome challenges, and seize future opportunities.

From School Desk to Healthcare Startup

From a young age, Arai Kamalieva dreamed of starting her own business that would help others—and she made it happen. Today, she is one of the co-founders of a startup focused on analyzing skin pigmentation, and she’s receiving invitations from the world’s top universities. But as she recalls, the path to success wasn’t easy.

To bring her ideas to life, Arai Kamalieva began developing various skills from a young age, with programming becoming one of her top priorities. While still in school, she decided to learn Java and enrolled in courses at Samsung Innovation Campus. During the course, Arai excelled in her training and left a lasting impression. For her final project, she presented an app designed to help people maintain healthy habits.

The development courses provided a solid foundation, she explains. According to Arai, the knowledge she gained played a key role in her acceptance into the "Disease Modeling" course at the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University. There, she began learning the R programming language, which allowed her to apply differential equations to predict the spread of infectious diseases.

Arai’s efforts have gained significant recognition abroad. She received an invitation from one of Canada's top universities—the University of Toronto—where she was offered the opportunity to study "Molecular Biology, Immunology, and Diseases." Looking ahead, Arai plans to continue advancing her expertise and scaling up her projects.

How Discipline Helped Me Fall in Love with Programming

Roman Vasilyev was first introduced to programming in the 7th grade. At that time, he experimented with website development but soon lost interest. Encouraged by his homeroom teacher, Roman enrolled in Samsung Innovation Campus during the 10th grade. It was there that he discovered a new perspective on programming and fell in love with it. His passion grew so much that he began teaching and founded a community that brings together beginner coders.

According to Roman, programming initially seemed challenging and suited only for a select few. However in practice, he found it to be different. By dedicating substantial time to learning and setting clear goals, he became one of the top graduates. Not only did he attend every class throughout the academic year, but he also developed a freight transportation app that has been recognized as the best in his cohort—a product that was nearly ready for market.

Roman is now working on developing and improving mobile applications for various companies, all while pursuing a degree in Software Engineering. In addition, he decided to share his experience with beginner programmers by organizing a mobile development club at Astana IT University. The club hosts competitions, classes, and workshops for those interested in mobile development. Roman credits Samsung Innovation Campus with having a significant impact on his future, career path, and university decision.

Left the Profession of an Economist to Embrace Programming

Venus Yuldasheva has been captivated by science fiction since childhood, which sparked her interest in innovative technologies. Over time, she realized that she didn’t want to remain just an observer—she wanted to be part of that world.

For a while, Venus worked in the field of economics. However, she decided to take a break and explore a new profession. “There were many options,” she recalls. She tried several courses, but it was Samsung Innovation Campus that left the strongest impression on her. According to Venus, the key factors were the mentor’s responsiveness, their professionalism, and the hands-on training approach. As a result, she became one of the top graduates in Python programming.

"Setting the right goal and avoiding excuses are important elements in learning something new," says Venus. These principles helped her become a skilled specialist and opened up valuable opportunities for her. She was invited to study artificial intelligence technologies at Johannes Kepler University, which is the first in Europe to offer an academic degree in artificial intelligence.

Samsung Innovation Campus is an educational program by Samsung Electronics, operating in most countries where Samsung has a presence. This initiative is conducted as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility efforts. The primary goal of the program is to offer the youth free, high-quality education in the field of information technology. In Kazakhstan, the program was launched in 2021 and has since enabled young Kazakhstanis to acquire new skills and enter new professions.

More information about Samsung Innovation Campus is available on the official website: samsung-campus.kz

Reference

• Samsung Electronics Newsroom (Kazakhstan): Адамдарға көмектесу және балалықтың арманын жүзеге асыру: қазақстандықтар неліктен IT саласына жаппай келуде