English 
العربية 
I chose Middle East College (MEC) to pursue my Master’s because I realized that it is the best among the local private colleges, offering programmes in Information Technology specialization. In addition, it has an academic affiliation with Coventry University (CU), which is highly ranked in the UK and internationally.
My journey at MEC was phenomenal although my campus life was limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. But I appreciate the college for adopting the online mode of teaching to adapt to the unprecedented situation. This helped me to complete my study without any delay in the semester. I am appreciative of the support I got from the teaching and administrative staff at MEC during the challenging situations. All through this period, I am surprised that I was able to maintain my work-study-life balance.
During the period of study, the modules and workshops offered by MEC helped me to improve my technical skills. Choosing a project topic was not an easy task. A project in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was my dream. My research in allied fields helped me gain new insights and ideas in the world of Natural Language Processing (NLP). Finally, I ended up choosing a project on AI based NLP of sentiment analysis for national security and planning. I take pride in the fact that my project was selected as one of the three winning projects in the fifth edition of UPGRADE award, under the Research Council of Oman. This would not have been possible without the guidance, and support of my project supervisor, Dr. Smitha S Nair, Head of Centre for Postgraduate Studies, who encouraged me to compete in the UPGRADE program.
In my opinion, MEC provided the best learning environment that opened many opportunities for me. The study at MEC expanded my vision by uncovering new prospects in my work, business, academic and personal life, and boosted self-confidence in my knowledge level and the passion to research in the field of NLP and pursue doctoral studies in the future. I am fortunate to be a student of MEC.
Ali Salim Nasser Al Harthi, MSc. in Information Technology
