One of the benefits of your CompTIA membership is giving back. Your involvement in the association helps support the Creating IT Futures Foundation (CITF), the philanthropic arm of CompTIA, which builds IT careers for people from all walks of life, boosting the workforce and our industry. So, as we head into Thanksgiving, learn how a class of students is thankful for our work in technology and education.
On November 10, 2016, in Elgin, Illinois, CITF graduated its latest IT-Ready class. IT-Ready is a free education, training and career placement program. The Elgin class had been through an eight-week course. IT-Ready instructor Sean Callinan pointed out that while the class was free, it came at a cost – effort. “Week three, week four, week five; I was worried we were going to have nosebleeds,” he joked.
Each student spoke before receiving their certificates of completion. Marcelino Lopez said he had recently been an ITT Technical Institute student but that he “lost an opportunity there” (the school shut down in September after the Department of Education cut off access to federal financial aid for new students). He said the IT-Ready course has been an “eye-opening experience” and praised Callinan, as did Darrell Penn, who called him “an awesome instructor.”
“He’s a Marine too, so that’s been very helpful,” Penn said. “I didn’t expect the depth of the program. I learned more in eight weeks here than I did in my entire college career.”
Orlando Martinez echoed this. “Coming into the opportunity, I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I learned a lot. I would rank Sean in my top five [instructors].” This drew laughs from the room, and Martinez rushed to clarify that this wasn’t a slight. “Top five is good! Top five means I’ll remember you.”
Students used their chances to speak as an opportunity to share their thoughts on education in general. “I hated school, period. I was very smart but I didn’t like it,” said Montaque Jones. “I recently got an engineering degree and was applying for jobs for jobs I didn’t want.” IT-Ready got Jones out of this trap. “I’d always wanted to get into IT. I’ve been a computer hobbyist for years.”
Phyllis Flanagan also said she’d “dibbled and dabbled with computers” for years before signing up for IT-Ready. One of her favorite things about the course was meeting the staff of CITF. “It’s great to meet the people behind the scenes,” she said. “I appreciate the work that you do.”
Student Brian Murray said, “I didn’t know what to expect but I learned a lot. I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Melanie Dugger, too, praised the course itself. “There were times I didn’t even realize I was learning; that’s how fun it was,” she said. “It increased my passion for technology.”
CITF manager Kathy Mrazek concluded the graduation by encouraging the students to “keep these friendships after the doors close here. And I know you’ll all succeed.”
Click here to learn more about CITF and here to learn more about CompTIA membership.
Daniel Margolis is senior managing editor in marketing at CompTIA.
