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Tracy Johnson I found OpNet in August of 1999 just after I'd had my third child. I was twenty-four years old, a single mother of three, unemployed and homeless. My kids and I were living at the Compass Family Center, a shelter for homeless families, and I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. I knew I needed to make a change not only for myself, but for my children and their future. OpNet was it. I won't lie. It wasn't easy to make it through the five weeks of training while balancing my three kids, but OpNet provided the encouragement and support I needed. With help from the instructors and volunteer tutors from the industry, I learned web design software, web site design and construction, project management and the business skills I would need to succeed in a high tech company. After the training, OpNet placed me in a four month internship as an assistant web designer at the Miller Freeman Company. After my internship, Miller Freeman offered me a full-time position as a Web Developer at a great starting salary plus benefits. It was amazing. When I needed help with my childcare during the training, OpNet was there. When I needed advice on how to negotiate a salary for my first job, OpNet was there. When I went through a company re-organization and I had to start a new job search, OpNet was there. Today, I am getting job offers from several major high tech companies. More importantly, I have a career and the confidence and experience to create a secure future for me and my family.
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Adam Turner About this time last year, I was shining shoes in the financial district. I had been doing it since I was twelve years old when I met this guy Famous Wayne who taught me the business. I was never really that into school and I liked being out on the street and making money. Right around the time I got my GED, Joe from OpNet started coming by to get his shoes shined. So, we started talking and he asked me if I knew anything about computers. Seriously, it was just like that. I had been playing around on a computer my mom bought us and I was way into the Internet, but I didn't think much about it. I got into the OpNet training class and it all clicked. I was intimidated at first, but then computers started really making sense to me. I got it. I even became the Teaching Assistant for another OpNet training class. They also placed me into an internship at Plumpjack.com where I got a lot of experience and where I really started to believe in my skills. Just this past week, I accepted my first position at a major sports related internet site. I accepted the first job of my new career. Sometimes I wonder what I'd be doing if Joe never walked up to get his shoes shined that day. I'd probably still be out there shining shoes for all those tech workers. Instead, I'm one of them.
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Enrique Peņa I was referred to OpNet by my guidance counselor at my high school in the Fillmore. I grew up playing video games and surfing Internet, but I didn't really know what I was going to do after I graduated high school. OpNet taught me HTML, Photoshop, and web design and they got me an internship at CHALK. At CHALK, I helped design it's "Youth Village" web site. I even designed and maintain the OpNet web site. Now, I work part-time as a webmaster for the youth organization ZEUM, and freelance the rest of the time. I learned a great deal at OpNet and really got the hang of things.
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Kelvin Briggs I was just completing my GED when I found out about OpNet. I wasn't able to get an internship placement right after the training, but I stuck with it and reconnected with OpNet a few months later. OpNet told me about this cool organization named CHALK, which is like this tech savvy youth talk line. I worked there without pay to get some experience and work on my design and HTML skills. After that experience, I was able to get an internship at Quokka Sports, Inc. Two months after my internship, Quokka offered me a full-time job as a Design Assistant making good money. I couldn't have done it without OpNet and CHALK. I might have given up, but they stuck with me and I worked hard to learn what I needed to learn. I'm proud of what I've accomplished and I feel good that my mother can be proud of me too.
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Sipaea Webb I was an eighteen-year old single mother when I found out about OpNet. I went through the training and got an internship with a company called Ripple Effects, where I specialized in marketing and web design support. They liked my work so they hired me in a permanent, part-time job and now I juggle that with part-time classes at San Francisco State University and taking care of my kid. OpNet opened up a whole new world for me. I learned so much in the program, and now have some solid work experience under my belt. I look forward to making a nice career for myself in multimedia.
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Jeanette Au When I first found out about OpNet, I was studying art. I had a child to support and I wasn't really sure what I was going to do next. Someone told me about OpNet, so I applied. I went through the training and they placed me in an internship with Planet Out. After my internship, Planet Out offered me a full-time, salaried position and I've been there ever since. I'm thankful to OpNet cause they gave me direction, a way to use my creativity and support myself and my son. |
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