Courtney Lord
Daniel Marian
Two Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC) Microsoft Datacenter Academy Scholars have accepted job offers from the tech giant, and they aren’t even finished with school yet! Courtney Lord and Daniel Marian, both on track to graduate in 2027, are already full-time Datacenter Technicians at the Microsoft Datacenter in Goodyear.
“It’s surreal in the best way, and I absolutely love it,” Daniel said of working at Microsoft. “The team is fantastic, the work is hands-on and impactful, and I’m constantly learning new things every day.”
The two Mountain Lions were accepted into the Microsoft Datacenter Academy in 2024. The Academy — a collaboration between EMCC, Glendale Community College, and Microsoft — is designed to help students build digital skills and provide them with career pathways in the growing cloud computing and IT sectors.
“This is a great example of the kinds of life-changing experiential learning opportunities our EMCC students have in their own backyard,” said Grace Kirker, Associate Dean - Workforce and Experiential Learning. “Our experiential learning partnerships with industry leaders such as Microsoft can set our students on a path to success just like Courtney and Daniel.”
Microsoft Datacenter Academy students get in-class lectures by Microsoft Datacenter staff, hands-on labs, and Q&A panels, as well as opportunities to interview for work experience programs within a Microsoft Datacenter.
Courtney, who spent 11 years in the medical field before beginning her new journey at EMCC, said the Microsoft Datacenter Academy Program helped keep her on track and pushed her to succeed.
“Coming from the medical field, it’s easy to feel like just another number,” she said. “What this program and internship showed me is that’s not true.”
Courtney and Daniel also applied for and received the Microsoft Datacenter Academy Scholarship, which covers their tuition, as well as certain certification testing costs.
“I’m a mom, and I didn’t want to take on student loan debt,” Courtney said. “The scholarship has helped me a lot with covering school expenses so I can focus on my classes without overloading my schedule.”
The scholarship runs the length of the program, and recipients are automatically re-enrolled as long as they meet the program requirements. Daniel said the scholarship removed the biggest financial barriers so that he could focus entirely on learning.
“Without it, I honestly wouldn’t be where I am today,” he said.
On top of the scholarship, they were both offered and accepted full-time, paid internships with the big tech company in the fall of 2025, something Daniel said overlapped perfectly with the coursework.
“I was taking classes while interning, so everything reinforced each other in real time,” Daniel said. “For example, I’d be learning Linux in class and then using those exact skills at work the same week, it felt like one continuous loop of learning. The internship made my coursework far more relevant, and my classes made me more effective on the job. It was absolute gold.”
Daniel said some of his duties during the internship included hardware installation and maintenance, troubleshooting, and various trainings, all under the supervision of senior technicians.
“It was very much a ‘learn by doing’ environment in a live production setting,” he said. “What stood out most was the exceptional work culture. The emphasis on learning while being part of a truly supportive team made the whole experience unforgettable.”
Courtney said the internship was extremely beneficial to her because she’s a hands-on learner.
“It definitely helped lock in the hard skills I was learning in my networking classes,” she said. “Tests give me an idea, but actually doing the work is what makes it stick.”
The internships wrapped up in January, and they were both offered full-time positions, which they accepted and began in February. When Courtney graduates from EMCC, she will have earned the Red Hat Cyber Defense Associate Degree as well as some certifications, and when Daniel graduates, he will have an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Computer and Information Technology, with a focus on Network & Systems Administration, and the CompTIA Network+ certification.
“I work in a datacenter, which I had never been inside before my internship,” Courtney said. “There’s a lot to do, and you’re constantly learning new things, but everyone has a growth mindset, so not knowing something is completely normal, no matter how long you’ve been there.”
She said the pay and benefits are great, but the main reason she accepted the job offer was because of the community Microsoft fosters.
“I haven’t even been there a full year yet, but it really does feel like home,” she said.
Are you interested in learning more about the Microsoft Datacenter Academy Program? Go to www.estrellamountain.edu/microsoft-datacenter-academy. Are you a current student who is looking for an internship? Go to www.estrellamountain.edu/students/internships.