Hi! I'm Jess, and I want to go to code school. I've been accepted to The Iron Yard's Ruby class, now I just have to worry about paying for it!
I've had a stressful couple of days dealing with this -- the school offers financing, but it's not great terms, and I already have debt leftover from my BA. I had a brief ray of hope when I discovered that I was potentially eligible to use the GI Bill from my time in the military to pay for it, but unfortunately the Raleigh-Durham location hasn't been open for two years and is not qualified.
So...I'm reaching out to my network. Please help me!
I realized recently that I don't want to do the career I've trained for so far. In looking back over the jobs and internships I've had, I realized that I've most enjoyed the jobs that had two features: they allowed me to do something new that wasn't necesarily in my pre-existing skillset, and they were related to the tech world. Things like data journalism and start-ups that are actually doing really useful, interesting things. I lived in San Francisco, but I found the tech scene there to be superficial and unappealing. I don't want to work on the next dating app, but I really, really loved working for a non-profit focused on government transparency in grad school, and I follow organizations like EFF and the Center for Democracy and Technology avidly. I think my soft skills could be valuable in the tech world, and the hard programming skills that I would learn in this class would give me the opportunities to go out there and get to work.
Also, honestly, I'd like to put my values to work. I can complain and retweet articles all day about how tech needs women, but I'm not doing anything to actually help the situation. I'd like to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.
The $12k I'm asking for will cover tuition for the class. If I'm extremely lucky and get over that amount, any additional money will go to purchasing a new laptop (the class requires a Mac and I have a Chromebook), as well as living expenses like rent and food.
Thank you so much for donating to my campaign!
I've had a stressful couple of days dealing with this -- the school offers financing, but it's not great terms, and I already have debt leftover from my BA. I had a brief ray of hope when I discovered that I was potentially eligible to use the GI Bill from my time in the military to pay for it, but unfortunately the Raleigh-Durham location hasn't been open for two years and is not qualified.
So...I'm reaching out to my network. Please help me!
I realized recently that I don't want to do the career I've trained for so far. In looking back over the jobs and internships I've had, I realized that I've most enjoyed the jobs that had two features: they allowed me to do something new that wasn't necesarily in my pre-existing skillset, and they were related to the tech world. Things like data journalism and start-ups that are actually doing really useful, interesting things. I lived in San Francisco, but I found the tech scene there to be superficial and unappealing. I don't want to work on the next dating app, but I really, really loved working for a non-profit focused on government transparency in grad school, and I follow organizations like EFF and the Center for Democracy and Technology avidly. I think my soft skills could be valuable in the tech world, and the hard programming skills that I would learn in this class would give me the opportunities to go out there and get to work.
Also, honestly, I'd like to put my values to work. I can complain and retweet articles all day about how tech needs women, but I'm not doing anything to actually help the situation. I'd like to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.
The $12k I'm asking for will cover tuition for the class. If I'm extremely lucky and get over that amount, any additional money will go to purchasing a new laptop (the class requires a Mac and I have a Chromebook), as well as living expenses like rent and food.
Thank you so much for donating to my campaign!
Organizer
Jessica Pearce
Organizer
Durham, NC