Changing careers is a journey, but in #StartupGVL no one travels alone.
Carolina Code School is a 12-week immersive program for professionals wanting to enter the tech sector. Three students enrolled in the program have overcome more than a few speed bumps along the way, but they are reaching their destinations here in Greenville.
Kyra Hall, front left, is a Marine veteran who is now a student at Carolina Code School in Greenville, SC.bumps along the way, but they are reaching their destinations here in Greenville.
“Everybody genuinely seems to want to help each other,” said Kyra Hall. “You feel good about getting individual help if you need it and knowing that it’s there.”
Kyra is a Marine veteran with a background in finance. She relocated from New York to Greenville to attend Code School. Just before classes began, the Department of Veterans Affairs informed Kyra the funding she was counting on would no longer be available due to an error within the department. Facing the prospect of dropping out, she turned to the Code School staff, who sprang into action.
“The school was nice enough to go through the corporate partners and give me a scholarship,” Kyra said. “I was really, really appreciative!”
Eddie Ayala is a Navy veteran and current Navy Reservist who is attending Carolina Code School.
For Eddie Ayala, a Navy veteran currently serving in the Reserves, Code School came through in a different way. The institution Eddie had been attending in San Antonio, Texas, closed abruptly, leaving his future tech career in doubt. When the VA informed him he could apply his remaining scholarship funds to another program, his search began.
“I looked into some of the schools and I saw Carolina Code School and I was like, ‘Okay, I like this,’” Eddie said. “I left Texas Friday night and then got here Saturday night, and then I started class that Monday morning.”
Jonathan Grant commutes six hours, round trip, every day to attend Carolina Code School.
Long, unexpected journeys are something Jonathan Grant is familiar with. This is his second time attending Carolina Code School after having to leave the program uncompleted several years ago due to personal circumstances. Determined to pursue his tech career, Jonathan applied again, was accepted, and now commutes six hours a day just to attend.
“I didn’t want that one thing to stop me from accomplishing my dreams,” he said.
All three students have found that it’s a program worth traveling for. Carolina Code School offers career support for its graduates and boasts a near-100 percent job placement rate. That, along with the lengths staff are willing to go to help students succeed, breeds confidence in the program.
“I feel like this is really going to be my success story,” Eddie said. “So if anybody you know that’s watching this and they’re interested in going to the school, I just say take the leap of faith.
Learn more about Carolina Code School
Last week, founders, manufacturers, investors, corporate leaders, and ecosystem partners gathered in Greenville for Innovation Exchange, a new event hosted by NextGEN focused on strengthening connections between startups and enterprise companies.
There’s something special about walking into GROK and immediately spotting familiar faces.
Not just one or two, but dozens. Founders, operators, creatives, technologists. People from the StartupGVL community who are all building, questioning, experimenting, and showing up.
Every startup has a pitch. But not every pitch is actually working.
Too often, founders are walking around with a deck or a one liner that explains what they do, but does not land, connect, or clearly communicate the value of what they are building. That is the gap NextGEN’s brand new Fix My Pitch program is designed to address.
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