Osamah relcoated to the United States in 2014 from Baghdad, Iraq where, among other jobs, he provided linguistic services to the U.S. Army. Osamah earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science in Iraq, but upon relocation to Madison, was only able to find employment in a warehouse training position earning $11.00 per hour.
He enrolled in the IT-Web Software Developer program at Madison College in 2014 with the assistance of the WorkSmart Network where he began to take classes part-time.
The WorkSmart Network was able to provide much needed assistance with the cost of tuition, fees and books throughout the program since he was not eligible for Pell grants due to having a bachelor’s degree.
Throughout his participation, Osamah progressed from his employment earning $11.00 per hour to earning $15.63 per hour at USPS and to earning $13.19 per hour at an internship at the Department of Justice. Upon his graduation from the associate’s program in 2018, Osamah was offered a full-time position with the Department of Justice as a Senior Java Developer earning $34.00 per hour!