My name is Savaughn Jones and I am raising money for tuition into the Hack Reactor coding bootcamp in San Francisco. 

After getting laid off from my job because of a computer system update, I decided it was finally time to pursue my dream of being a software engineer. I have wanted to do this ever since high school. It is hard for young people who grow up in poverty to get into the computer science field. I barely had a home growing up let alone a computer.

Poor black kids have trouble getting into fields like this because there is barely any information about STEM fields out there in those environments. When you grow up being surrounded by drug abuse and domestic violence as well a homelessness, nobody tells you to go and become a computer guy. Doctors and lawyers are the only high-profile professions that have any sort of cultural presence in poor communities.

I had to wait until I became an adult to gain knowledge about this field and I love it. It is very challenging and also very rewarding to me. With only 2 months under my belt, I have come a long way and I was able to get into the Hack Reactor boot camp program. The graduates of this program have a 98% hire rate with a starting salary average of 104k+ a year.
 
My friend / roommate has been trying to get me to do this for years. He is an alum at Hack Reactor and he says it changed his life. He has actually helped another friend improve his life greatly in the same way he is trying to help me. After the aforementioned layoff and a very uncertain living situation, I decided to take a leap of faith in myself.

I felt like all of the work I put in and all of the work I was going to have to put in was going to be worth it. All of the bad things in life that I have gone through and witnessed my family go through would be worth it because I was going to bust my butt and become a damn good software engineer. I was finally going to be able to help my family and friends the way they have helped me my entire life.  

When I I was debating the decision to leave my life on the east coast behind to become a programmer, I was very hesitant because of the money. I knew it was going to cost a bit, but my roommate told me to just focus on getting in and worry about the money later. I thought the hard part was going to be getting in, but it was relatively easy compared to finding the money to pay for it. I’m looking into other channels and my roommate is trying to call in some favors to work something out, but it doesn’t look like there is much out there for me.

One of the other challenges that young people from poor backgrounds face is finding money for school. Growing up, it was just assumed that you could get money for school for being smart and being on welfare. When I got to college I was almost turned away because I had didn’t have enough money for school. I had to take some very desperate loans at a metaphorical gunpoint or have my grandparents send me money for a bus ticket to go back home. I wanted to be the first person in my family to graduate from college and I decided to go for it. I t was also assumed that you got a good job after college. I thought you just went to school and did your work that you would get a good job. There was so much I didn’t know about making college a worthwhile experience. I knew nothing about networking or getting into bio labs. Between this and being a 2008 graduate, I never qualified to get one of the few jobs in my field. I have been struggling with gainful employment and these loans ever since; My student loans from college have ruined my credit and I have been instantly rejected for every financing option presented to me by Hack Reactor.

There has already been so much support for this campaign from my friends and family. The people in my life are fantastic and I can’t give up on my dreams. For the first time in my life, I have a clear goal ahead of me. I actually know what I’m getting myself into; There no unspoken truths that I never had a chance of knowing. I just have to put in the work, which I am more than capable of, and I WILL succeed. The tuition seems to be the final hurdle between me and becoming the productive adult I know I am.

If you would like to donate instead of lend, please visit my GoFundMe page.

I attended Georgia Southern University as a pre-med Biology major. I pursued medicine due to familial pressure but left during my sophomore year to find my own passion, which turns out to be software engineering/problem solving.

In that time after leaving college, I experimented with a lot of jobs and hobbies from competitive gaming to high-pressure commission sales to even becoming a 'repo guy'. During those 3 years I was very good at my jobs and was a perennial top performer, but I always felt unfulfilled. One morning I received a call from a friend with whom I attended college, who had become a CTO at a tech startup, asking me to consider computer programming as a new career path. After some research, I gave my notice at my job and bought a plane ticket from Georgia to California. 

I took roughly a year to get established and studied both independently and with help from Hack Reactor grads and other software engineers. During this time I worked in commission furniture sales (top 10 in NorCal region for over 6 months straight). I later received a scholarship for the Telegraph Prep+ course. Afterward, I was accepted into the Telegraph Academy 12-week immersive coding bootcamp where I currently am attending now. I'm well on my way to being a software engineer and I'm finally doing something I enjoy doing. Even when I'm frustrated with a code project I can't help but feel motivated to keep pushing until I solve the issue. It's indescribably euphoric and gratifying to solve a problem that you had been stuck on. I get to work on interesting problems with interesting people. I love coding. I love seeing my thoughts become 'tangible'. Being able to do this for money is simply a bonus.

I'm unable to work during the program since classes are 12 hours a day and 6 days a week for over 12 weeks. The stretch goal would cover the total tuition of $16,725 which would allow me to keep from using my 401K. Paying interest on these loans would be much less expensive than paying the 20% tax penalty to the IRS plus fees from Merrill Lynch. My base goal is to cover at least half of the tuition ($8,365) and then I'd take out a deferred loan from one of the Reactor Core lending partners.

I'm looking for a loan at 9%. Two reasons I chose a high-interest rate - I want it to be worthwhile for my lenders and I don't intend to have this debt long. Over the last 2 years, I've adopted a minimalist lifestyle and strive to live on less than 50% of my income. With this philosophy, I prioritize debt repayment over all other expenses which has helped me pay down much of my past debts quickly.

Hello Everyone! My name is Richard Durazo, I'm 29 years old, and I am borrowing some money at 10% annual interest. I’d love it if you made an investment in my future! You will be helping me to achieve my dream of becoming a full-stack web developer while making an AWESOME return. 

What's in it for you!?

WeFinance makes it EASY! You will get automatic monthly repayments deposited directly to your bank account, starting 6 months after this campaign closes. 

You get a much MUCH higher rate of return than you’d currently get with a CD, savings, or bond index fund.

More about me

In 2011 I graduated from California State University Fullerton with a Bachelor’s degree in Business. Since my graduation I've been working in cloud software implementation and I currently work for one of the leading providers of talent management software, CornerStone OnDemand. Over the past two and a half years I have had the opportunity to see the inner-workings of many different companies in different industries and sizes. I am very passionate about software and now that I've gained all of this experience teaching others how to use software I would like to continue to learn how to build software applications myself! 

How I'll use the money

Working in software implementation has led me to become increasingly interested in web development. I have been teaching myself how to code over a year and I was recently accepted into MakerSquare's 12-week immersive program so now I can fully focus on my dream! 

This loan will be used to finance my tuition and living expenses for the next 3 - 6 months while I complete and obtain a full-time job as a software Developer. 

Why I am a safe investment

MakerSquare is part of the Reactor Core Programs and is a highly reputable school with an outstanding record. 96% of graduates get a coding job within 3 months of the program, with an average salary of $92k - 104k. I’m more than confident that I will achieve the same success.

I have a good credit score and I have never missed a payment for any of my credit cards or past debt. I've had Job stability throughout college and have been working in the same field since my graduation. I have experience in paying off a car loan with ally bank that was larger than the amount of this loan. I’m looking to my family and friends for support with this loan and I will not let them down!

The pledge button is below. Feel free to contact me directly with any questions you may have.

I studied Accounting/Finance and Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College, attended Hack Reactor and am now a software engineer.

I worked as an Investment Banking summer analyst at RBC and a Systems Analyst for Launch Code in Saint Louis. I'm currently a software engineer/consultant at Verys in Irvine. I plan on learning and growing and doing other gigs on the side to make more money.

I'm trying to refinance my current Pave Loan into something with more favorable terms. I've been paying back my loan since the moment I graduated from Hack Reactor. I also have a 6 year credit history and a credit score of 700 - 740.

Hello, everyone! My name is Arnoldo Munoz, I'm 27 years old, and I’m starting an exciting and promising path towards a career as a software engineer.

I’m looking to borrow some money at 8% annual interest, and I sincerely hope you’ll consider becoming one of my lenders. Not only will you be helping me to achieve my dreams, but you will also be setting yourself up for a worthwhile return. Hopefully, by the end of this post, you’ll agree, and want to invest in me.

What you’ll get:

WeFinance makes everything super easy. You’ll get 18 automatic monthly repayments deposited directly to your bank account, starting 6 months after this campaign closes. So you’ll start getting repaid late March / early April 2017, and be fully paid back by the end of 2018. Interest will accrue right away, at 8% compounded monthly.
A $250 loan would earn back about $277 under these terms.
A $500 loan would earn back about $553 under these terms.
A $1000 loan would earn back about $1,107 under these terms.
* This is a higher rate of return than you’d currently get with a CD, savings, or bond index fund

How I’ll use the Money:

I was recently accepted into Telegraph Academy’s 12-week Coding Immersive, a highly selective program aimed to help minorities traditionally underrepresented in tech train for and secure careers as software engineers. My goal is to be able to create apps and new software that will help people learn and empower themselves. I have a lot of ideas that I’m excited to start working on, especially as my skills improve throughout the “bootcamp.” My ultimate goal is to do my part in leaving the world a better place than when I entered.

This loan will be used to pay for the cost of my tuition (minus the deposit I’ve paid). I’ve already been lucky enough to secure funding for my cost of living expenses from my former boss, who really believes in my dream and has seen all of the hard work I’ve already put in just to get to this point.
Tuition & Materials: $17,175

Why you should invest in me:

I have been teaching myself how to code for quite some time and recently finished Telegraph Academy’s Prep+ course, where my skills and confidence grew tremendously. I’ve also been volunteering as a Teacher’s Assistant for the course, allowing me to continue to develop and practice my skills while also being able to help others through their coding journey. While I don’t have a professional background as a software engineer (yet), I have the hustle and drive that are needed for success. I have been working since I was 16 years old, mostly in the hospitality and retail industries. While those jobs allowed me to pay bills, they didn’t provide the sense of fulfillment I get when I’m creating software -- I’ve finally found a career that truly makes me happy and will continue to pursue it.

Telegraph Academy is a stellar program and is a part of the Reactor Core family of bootcamps, which have a 99% job placement rate within three months of graduation, averaging $105k a year. Furthermore, their mission and work is helping to create opportunity and access to minorities and bringing more diversity to the tech workforce.

That’s my pitch! The Pledge button is below. Please feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected] if there is anything else you’d like to know from me! Thanks again for your time and consideration!

Hi everyone,

I'm Walter, I graduated in 2008 with a degree in Business Management and International Business.

Most of my professional experience has been in the banking industry. I have worked for Wells Fargo and Chase Bank for a combined total of 8 years. When I moved to Austin, TX a couple of years ago, I worked for a software company where I became interested in the technology industry. I have been coding since December 2015 and decided to take my career to the next level into something where there is high job demand, great income potential, and most of all, I enjoy what I do.

I just got accepted to MakerSquare's 3-month immersive bootcamp for software engineers. I plan to use this loan for tuition expenses. Classes are held Monday to Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 8:00p.m. Due to the long hours and intensive sessions, working while also studying is nearly impossible during the 12-week duration of the program.

Tuition: $16,920
Out of pocket payment (personal savings): $4,920
Remaining: $12,000

I will pay back this loan with the job I secure after graduation. I have a great history of making payments on time, job stability and my credit score is in the 680-720 range. MakerSquare has a graduate hiring rate of 96% with an average salary of 75k in Austin and 100k+ in San Francisco.

Thanks for your time!

I finished high school in Europe. After moving to the US, I completed my GED and enrolled in community college at Texas City where I am close to achieving my associate's degree in computer sciences. I have also been accepted to MakerSquare in Austin, TX.

I have been designing, developing and maintaining websites for non-profit organizations for about 8 years mostly as a freelancer. I have also worked for a marketing agency called Media Trend in Croatia as a front-end developer prior to moving to the US.

The goal with MakerSquare bootcamp is to get myself ready to hit the ground running as a full stack front-end developer. 

Currently, I am working for Starbucks as a shift supervisor and due to my excellent job performance, I will always have a job I can fall back to.

The loan will be used to cover my living expenses, housing in Austin, as well as 15" MacBook Pro laptop.

I have a credit score of 730 and have never been late on any of my payments. The demand for highly skilled front-end developers is pretty big right now so I am confident that after my time at MakerSquare bootcamp, I will have no trouble getting a job in the field of application development. I should be able to pay off most of the loan within the first year of employment as a full-time front-end developer.

I am a student at the University of Washington but have decided to take a break because I’ve been accepted to attend MakerSquare in Los Angeles. MakerSquare is a highly selective, three-month full-time career accelerator for software engineering.

I’ve always had a passion for coding but this is the first time I'm considering it as a serious career. While I don't have work experience in this field yet, I am confident I will be able to find a job after because MakerSquare has a 96% job placement rate for graduates within 3 months of graduation.

I've already paid off the majority of my student loans through a part-time job and I will be able to pay off this loan once I secure a job after attending MakerSquare. Graduate salaries average $106,000 in San Francisco, $92,000 in Los Angeles, and $75,000 in Austin.

This loan will cover the following expenses:

-$3000 rental fee for 3 months
-$2000 for food/other living expenses

Total: $5000

I graduated from the University of Scranton in 2010 with a degree in Philosophy. Why did I study philosophy? I had a lot of questions about the nature of the world, about the mind, and about how someone was supposed to live a good life. It was a true passion. I could spend hours, or even days, wrestling with concepts and solving problems. I loved debating with my peers and professors because it provided me the opportunity to engage in both an analytical and creative process.  

I planned on getting my PhD., but when the time for applications for graduate programs came along, something didn’t feel right. I loved philosophy, but I didn’t love academia. I didn’t want to spend six or seven more years in graduate school engaged in the surprisingly cutthroat world of academic philosophy, where less than one in eight students complete their degree, and less than one in ten of those ever achieve tenure. What I experienced initially as a joyful pursuit of wisdom, appeared to turn into some sort of intellectual cage match.

After graduation, I knew there had to be something I was meant to do. Something that would fill me with passion and motivate me the way that philosophy had, but that could actually pay my bills. It took a long time and a lot of false starts and dead ends to find it. I’ve managed a pizzeria. I’ve been a clerk in a museum gift shop and done PR for a health food store. I’ve done telephone sales. I’ve even been a graveyard shift security guard. Throughout that time, I looked for something that would really grab me and convince me that if I didn’t do it, I’d go crazy.

I wanted to try programming for years but had never found the opportunity. A few months ago, a friend told me about a programming bootcamp called Hack Reactor. To even be considered for acceptance, I had to teach myself Javascript and prove my proficiency with it. In the months of self-study, through late nights and long weekends, I discovered something - I don’t just like programming, I love it. It is more challenging and more rewarding than anything I’ve ever done before. And I knew that when I was done with the bootcamp I would also have beautiful, useful programs that I could share with others.  

My other motivation throughout the process of learning has been my daughter, Veda. She’s ten months old now, and when she was born I knew I had to make a major change in my life to give her the life she deserves. Most of my life I’ve just been getting by, working jobs that never truly challenged or fulfilled me or gave me any real measure of financial security. During the late nights of studying where I struggled with problems that made me question myself and my intelligence, I remembered that I wasn’t just doing it for myself, I was doing it for her.

I’m taking this loan to pay for my cost of living during the bootcamp. Hack Reactor is intense - 3 months long, 6 days a week, 11+ hours a day. It would be impossible (or insanely difficult) to hold down a job while doing this. 99% of the program’s graduates are employed in less than 3 months, but I want to make sure my cost of living will be secure during the time I am job searching.  

This money will pay my rent and bills and keep food on the table for me and my family while I prepare myself for a career that will be a radical departure from my current lifestyle. I’ve spent a long time searching for a meaningful way to make a living. I’ve found the answer and I’m ready to begin the journey. There is only one obstacle in my way. I need these loans to make this dream happen.  

When I graduate Hack Reactor, I will be employed as a software developer, a job in high demand, with a great salary. The average Hack Reactor graduate makes a starting salary of 105k/year. I am confident that I will be able to quickly repay my loan. This program and all the work I’ve put into so far is about responsibility. I’ve finally found something that will allow me to have a dependable income and the ability to borrow responsibly. I feel a very strong sense of gratitude and obligation to anyone who is kind enough to help me. Thank you for your confidence and support.

I graduated from Spelman College in 2004 with a degree in French and Duke University in 2009 with a Master of Public Policy. I was accepted into Telegraph Academy's 5th cohort where I will be training to become a Full-Stack Software Engineer. Prior to TGA, I worked in education sector as a grant writer. I hope to use my skills as software engineer to increase educational equity in the U.S. and expose children living in low-income communities to computer science education.

My career has mainly been focused in the nonprofit sector where I have worked for a variety of education organizations as a grant writer. I am pursuing a career change into software engineering because I am interested in ed-tech and creating products that will support learning outcomes that will prepare all students for the demands of the 21st century.

This loan will be used to help me cover living expenses while in the program. I have received financing for the cost of tuition and have used my savings to pay for materials needed for the bootcamp like a new computer. However, I was not able to crowdfund enough to pay for my living expenses for the duration of the program and for a few months afterward while I look for a job.

I will pay off this loan with earnings from my new position as a software engineer. I have nearly a decade history of paying down debt obligations from my student loan lenders. I have stable work experience, and will be entering a high demand sector upon graduating from the coding immersive. If I am unable to find a job as a software engineer, grant writers are still in high demand and I can always return to this work so that I can repay the loan I receive.