Gone: The importance of 1 year, 8 weeks, 3 hours… and this moment
Barry Murray's pencil tapped on his desk in time with the clock’s second hand. Tap, tap, tap, “NOW.” Tap, tap, tap, “NOW,” he repeated. Tap, tap, tap, “GONE. That moment’s gone. And that one. What are you going to do? It’s gone. You can’t get it back.” It was a message that made an impact on his high school students eager to get the hell out of English class and do something with their lives.
Murray’s exhortation to seize the day is on my mind at this small hour of the day, because of the conjunction of three events that matter to me, and that you may want to seize upon, too.
The importance of one year
Today we celebrate the first anniversary of Mobile Makers Academy, formed last fall when Brandon Passley convinced a handful of people to give a couple months of their lives toward learning how to code iOS apps. Marking a successful year in a start-up business is about surviving, but it’s really about the power of change. In this year, Mobile Makers has positively affected the lives of nearly 100 people. People who had a desire to work but who needed a specific skill to get started in their career. Now they’re Makers, building apps for their own living, and for businesses that will benefit from those apps, creating more opportunities, more efficiencies, more change. This is the power of one to many, the beauty of education.
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Of eight weeks
Today we also celebrate 17 Makers who, just 8 weeks ago, chose to put their social lives on hold and bury themselves deep into learning to code, some putting in nearly 800 hours of intense effort. They’re not the first people on earth to work hard, but each one is a testament to the power of commitment to a purpose. What they have learned, the apps they have built, and the futures they have begun, these are individual achievements that show in their eyes. I encourage you to see them for yourself: they are an inspiration.
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Of three hours
Change is hard, and that’s especially true when you don’t know where to begin. For three hours on Monday evening, Nov. 11, Mobile Makers is hosting a speed-mentoring workshop for people who want to kick their tech career into gear. There are plenty of these workshops in Chicago, but what’s special about DiversiTech312 is that we’ve teamed up with some great organizations who, like us, are dedicated to increasing diversity in the tech industry: Mobile Makers Academy, Ms. Tech, Dev Bootcamp, and Girl Develop It are drawing on their networks of women and underrepresented minority mentors to make a difference in the lives of anyone who is ready to take the next step in their tech career.
Of this moment
These are three things that matter to me, because they are helping to improve the lives of individuals. I took this moment to let you know about them. If they speak to you and you act on them, I have done my job, and you will have taken the time to recognize the power of seizing the day.
- Join us in honoring Mobile Makers and our 17 newest Makers with an open-house this evening, Nov. 7, featuring apps our teams have built and a whiskey tasting from Chicago’s Koval Distillery. Register at https://meetmobilemakers.eventbrite.com until 4 p.m.
- Sign up today to attend DiversiTech312 on Monday, Nov. 11, or tell someone you know who might benefit from the mentorship. Register at https://diversitech312.eventbrite.com/.
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