The end of Kura Labs’ 6-month intense Cloud Infrastructure training program has been a milestone in my professional and academic development. It challenged me in ways that I could not conceive of going into it. At times I struggled on a level that I thought was not possible for me. It was a humbling and emotional experience. But I endured and familiarize myself with high-level skills in a dynamically changing technology field. I will continue to learn and grow.
I was able to assess my strengths and weaknesses. At my weak points, a cohort from Cohort 3 was only a Slack away. The camaraderie built through this training gave me a more enriching perspective on the human experience. I have never dealt with such a diverse cast of intellectual powerhouses. But they hide behind their humbleness, and some do not yet see their greatness. I saw them and was enriched by the experience.
The staff at Kura Labs is par-excellent and reflects the mind and desire of the founder Shelton Gilbert. He did not have to create and give away for FREE this high-level training. That on average is probably around $15,000-$20,000. A training that most people will never receive especially the ones in underserved communities. While most companies & elected officials talk about diversity in different areas of society, he created a system to filter a mosaic of melanin people and women into technologist positions at top companies. Kura Labs is a blueprint that I hope others will follow.
Biases and prejudices exist because humans exist. That’s ok. Most people do not actively fight against it and that is the problem. In my opinion, Kura Labs is doing that. Even taking a chance on me. An older formerly incarcerated person. That didn’t know what wi-fi or a browser was a few years ago. And now to be familiar with Bash, Linux, Python, Jenkins, Terraform, Dockers, Git, AWS CLI, and Kubernetes is a great development.
What I got the most from Kura Labs is a rekindled fire about myself. And the question I have to discover is what’s next for me?