From First Lines of Code to Microsoft Engineer

Christine Dossa (Benin, UWC Maastricht, Lake Forest College ’25), a Software Engineer at Microsoft, knew that being a Forester meant access to exceptional resources. She proved it spectacularly.

Arriving at Lake Forest planning to study finance, Christine’s trajectory shifted after her first HTML course with a professor who made computer science feel “nice and welcoming.” From there, everything progressed beautifully. She fully embraced computer science, became a teaching assistant, conducted summer research through the Richter Scholars program, and founded a college chapter of Girls Who Code to inspire women in this historically male-dominated field.

“Lake Forest provided me with the perfect environment to grow academically and professionally,” she notes. “From the classroom to career coaching and networking, I was given all the resources to set myself up for success.”

Christine made the most of Lake Forest’s Career Advancement Center, attending LinkedIn and resume workshops from first year and never missing weekly office hours. Following advice to build extensive LinkedIn connections, she landed two sophomore-year externships—one with CitiBank, another with JP Morgan. During sophomore year, Microsoft recruited her via LinkedIn, leading to two internships and a full-time offer two weeks into senior year.

Christine hopes to UWC Maastricht next year to share her journey with current students, to give back to the school that had such a formative impact on her. “My fondest memory of my time at Maastricht was the vibrant community we created, all of us, from all over the world, embracing this experience with open eyes and curiosity. I’ve grown into a better version of myself, thanks to UWC.”

This profile is part of the “Graduates in Action” series from the 2026 Annual Report