Cracking the Code: Unlocking the Potential for a Better Life
Learning to Code Could be the Key to Your Success
When Matt Landers Launched Covalence after running Depot-U, he set out to teach coding to people from all walks of life. What Matt and his team didn’t realize is how much their program would change people's lives! Now that Covalence offers online courses, they are able to help individuals from all over the globe make a huge life change in a matter of weeks!
For a long time when someone said they were a coder or software developer, I pictured Samuel L. Jackson’s character trying to save Jurassic Park from the malware in the computer system installed by Dennis Nedry. Well, “hold onto your butts,” because I’m about to forever change the way you think of coders and developers!
Image Source
Almost Anyone can Code
The first thing I noticed about Covalence is that their coding bootcamps are accessible to almost everyone. Part of the reason we pigeonholed developers as “geeks and nerds” is that, for the longest time, you had to be immersed in the tech/computer culture to gain access to these educational opportunities. This is no longer the case, especially now that Convalance offers their courses online. What once was only available to techies is now a viable option for entrepreneurs, soccer moms, and people that currently have little to no job satisfaction.
Image Source
"I Can’t Get No Satisfaction"
In today’s job market, one of the biggest reasons for poor employee retention is the lack of a sense of purpose or fulfillment in their position. Most of us have been in this position at one time or another and can relate to this feeling. We may have felt that our day-to-day tasks didn’t make a difference in the grand scheme of things or been assigned tasks that could have been done by anyone. There’s nothing worse than feeling like an underutilized placeholder in your career, especially if you have mountain of student loan debt that says you should be making more money.
At this juncture you have a few options. You can a) tough it out, b) try to find a new job, or c) go back to school for something else. Many of you want to choose option C, but school is expensive and takes a LONG time. Peter Sugg had already gone to school at Montevallo and was looking into options for finishing his degree at Jeff State.
“In order to complete the course, I was now only required to take two classes of C++, of which I had already done. The rest of the course was bolstered with math courses. A friend of mine told me about Covalence, and after some research, I determined that this would be a far better option for me.”
Image Source
Evan Norton also knows how it feels to lack purpose.
”The main thing I have overcome is poor motivation. All throughout high school I never felt like what we were learning really mattered, and my motivation and work ethic reflected that.”
After enrolling in Covalence, all of that has changed for him.
”Since I've been in the course, I am happy to be doing what I'm doing everyday. I set a schedule for myself where I get up at the same time each morning and get breakfast on my way to class; whereas in high school, I would drag myself out of bed and be late for class everyday.”
In the end, our goal is usually the same. We want to experience abundance, true happiness, and lasting fulfillment! Covalence offers a new option that can help you achieve all of the above.
Image Source
Turn Monday Morning into Christmas Morning!
If you have never once dreaded a Monday morning, then stop reading this now, become a life-coach, and sign me up as your first client! For the rest of us, we all know the feeling of getting back to the daily grind each week. When Covalence started to interview students in their in-person bootcamps, they were amazed at the level of enthusiasm they received. As student Daniel Bailey put it, “I've got the Christmas morning feeling every time I crack open a new lesson or start a new document on VS, wondering what I'm going to be able to create next!”
This sums up the level of hope and excitement that the students feel throughout the course. Covalence doesn’t just develop a person’s coding skills, it builds up belief with each new lesson. Each day students cultivate more belief in themselves, their skills, and their ability to control the outcome when it comes to employment and quality of life. “Words cannot even express how excited I am to find out what lies ahead in the near future!,” says Daniel.
Given that after a 10 week course Covalence graduates quickly land jobs with an average salary (in Alabama) of $55k-$65k, the return on investment is almost instantaneous. Maybe the perpetual renter can now buy their first home or a young couple can now be financially secure enough to start a family. You may have heard the concept of the “2 Degree Difference.” It states that by making a small shift (2 Degrees) in your life today, you can experience an exponential change over time. Covalence might just be a 10 degree shift, as graduates can see a rapid change in their quality of life.
Market Versatility
You have to have a pretty nimble skill set in order to quickly plug into today’s job market. Coding and Software Development can have a major impact in countless industries. After learning these skills you may find yourself working for a tech company, freelancing, or writing code for a traditional business that is trying to keep up with the latest digital trends.
Another advantage of coding is that there are plenty of jobs that allow you to work remotely. Recently, a San Francisco based company announced that they will start paying all of their remote workers the same salary, no matter what city they live in! Can you imagine getting paid a California tech salary while living in Birmingham?! Sounds like an amazing deal to me!
Image Source
The Lightbulb Moment
Throughout the course, most students experience a lightbulb moment. You know, the “Ah HA!” or “Eureka!” feeling you get when something finally clicks. Many students feel this is one of the most satisfying moments in the course. When this happens, they feel the payoff for all of the hard work and time they have dedicated to learning a new skill.
I watched a video of Matthew Aderhold speaking with Matt Landers about his Covalence experience. ”There was a big breaking point. I broke down and it didn’t seem like I was going to get the advanced stuff and actually do this.”
Matthew did get it. One of these moments happened when he couldn’t get his code to work. After a LOT of frustration, he found a spelling error in one of the initial lines of code. He fixed one letter and “POOF!,” everything started working!
"The challenges aren’t the frameworks and labs, but the issues I find while implementing what you’ve shown us,” says, Matthew. ”I was structuring a game in my head, then you guys showed us React and the lightbulb went off!”
When you watch the video of Matthew and Matt talking, you can hear the confidence in his voice and see the excitement on his face! He now not only has a clear goal and sense of purpose, but also the confidence in his skills and in himself to go out and make his vision a reality.
Image Source
”But What About Me?”
Most of us don’t have the luxury of taking 10 weeks off to do a full-time bootcamp. We have jobs and responsibilities. Even stay-at-home moms have precious little time to focus on themselves. This is what is so exciting about the launch of Covalence online! You can take the courses from home at your own pace.
You will have access to the same source material and expert advice as if you were in class, but time and distance won’t be a factor. You’ll even have access to live instructors to help you along the way. This is perfect for the stay-at-home mom who may have left her career, and possibly a degree, to help raise a family. Moms in these situations often feel like they had to make a choice between their career or family. Now they have a chance to choose both!
Image Source
It’s so exciting that a company that started out teaching coding in Birmingham is about to change lives all over the world! Currently the only barrier is that the courses are only offered in English, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Covalence expand to other languages soon.
If you can relate to anything I mentioned above, want a change of pace, or are just intrigued by coding, you can find out more information at Covalence.io . You should also follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter to stay in the know about their Demo Days and other fun events!