10 Years of Holberton
A decade ago, we launched @holbertonschool with a crazy idea: What if we could train world-class software engineers, without teachers, without lectures, and without upfront tuition?
We believed education was broken. Too expensive, too theoretical, too out of touch. So I left @Docker, and we built something radically different:
- Project-based.
- Peer-driven.
- Modeled after how engineers actually work.
And it worked.
We started in San Francisco with one small cohort and a big dream. Soon, we were training students who had never written a line of code, and watching them get hired at Apple, Tesla, Google, and beyond.
This was never a school for the privileged. It was built for the misfits, the underdogs, the ones no one expected to become engineers… until they did.
Then it grew. We expanded to Latin America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. From Bogotá to Beirut, Tunis to Toulouse. From one crazy dream to a global impact.
Thousands of students trained. Many lives changed. Many ceilings shattered.
Along the way, we were backed by believers: Jeff Weiner, Jerry Yang, @solomonstre , @NeYoCompound, @priyankachopra, and so many others who saw what this could be.
We were also blessed with incredible investors and advisors who not only supported our vision, but stood by us through the hard times, through COVID, through the crazy battle with California’s BPPE, and through every challenge that comes with trying to disrupt an old system. We couldn’t have done it without them.
In 2022, Holberton evolved. The brand and franchise were acquired in France by our former COO, @42Krp, who has done an incredible job expanding the Holberton School Network into even more countries.
@cyrjulien, another key early team member, now leads Holberton franchises. Under his leadership, France has become the country with the most Holberton Schools in the world with 12 campuses!
Meanwhile, the platform and technology were acquired by @alx_africa , and this is where something magical happened. @FredSwaniker gave me the opportunity to continue with my vision, but much bigger and much faster than I ever thought possible. With the support of the @MastercardFdn, we went from “no upfront tuition” to completely free. Education became not just accessible, but radically inclusive. And we scaled like never before in Africa.
Today, inside ALX, the Holberton’s engine powers one of the most ambitious software engineering programs in the world and since we joined forces, we served 1.29 million learners with programs constantly evolving, continuously updated, always learner-first.
We don’t sit still. We keep shipping. We update our curriculum relentlessly, because the industry moves fast, and our students deserve to move faster.
Almost every single week, I receive private messages from students who have found jobs - most of the time, their first job - and they want to say thank you. They tell me how #ALX_SE changed their life. How they now support their families. How they finally feel like they belong. This is what keeps me going. I may just have the best job in the world.
And the ripple effect keeps growing.
My wife, @Sophie_RB42 (my “co-founder in the shadow” who ran Holberton ops from the trenches) is now building https://t.co/QFxEfEv6U0 with @_MariemEhab, an #ALX_SE grad, to support the global community of job-seekers, helping them get prepared for interviews, fast-tracking their journey to a job.
So many alumni are stepping up in powerful ways. @nuux_tv, @DohouDaniel10 and others are mentoring and building new learning communities. @YoussefCharifH2 and @AbduuHany launched https://t.co/c6N1W2UxkD to help students find remote jobs globally. Hundreds of alumni are giving back one way or another.
This is what legacy looks like.
It almost sounds like we have made it. Don't be so sure. 10 years later, the world has changed dramatically. “AI is coming for your job!”. We hear it all the time. And it’s true, to an extent (Though today, it’s more like: someone who is using AI is coming for your job.) AI is rewriting the rules. Everything is shifting. We all have to adapt and learn to work with AI.
So here we are again, 10 years later. Once more, we need to rethink education. For everyone. And that’s exactly what we’re doing at ALX. I know Florian, and the network of incredible Holberton partners are also working actively on this.
The next 10 years are going to be wild. We’re building the foundation for another new kind of world, that needs a new kind of education that embraces the Future. We need something radically different:
- Project-based.
- Peer-driven - with some peers being AI-powered.
- Modeled after how engineers actually work.
Sounds familiar? Let’s do it again.
[And now… time for pictures!] 👇🧵
Best YouTube Channels To Learn…
Cybersecurity - John Hammond
Networking - David Bombal
Python - Code With Harry
React - Codevolution
UI/UX - GFXMentor
JavaScript - Traversy Media
Java - kunal kushwaha
DevOps - Techworld with Nana
Blockchain - Telusko
AI/ML- Krish Naik
Web Development - Traversy Media
AWS - Code With Harry
SQL - Programming With Mosh
DBMS - edureka
Ruby - The Ruby Way
Scala - Scala Love
SAP - intellipaat
C - FreeCodeCamp
R - Krish Naik
JQuery - Telusko
Cloud Computing
C # - Kudvenkat
.NET - C# Corner
Kotlin - Kotlin Programming
Flutter - The Net Ninja
Laravel - Laracasts
PHP - Code With Harry
Swift - CodeWithChris
This is my #GitHubUnwrapped!
I am more interested in Python but did a lot of DSA practicing using C language to solidify my foundation in Software Engr.
Will definitely be more confident next year to take on issues and contribute to interesting Open-source projects on @github
One of the first things I do when I get to any project is to identify people who know their onions, and I immediately become their "errand boy" and help them with things. I will go for break wherever they go, sit with them and just soak knowledge.
Even on social media, I have notification on for people I learn from daily.
We are from a disadvantaged background. Knowledge is our only currency.
If the money for my soft life is not going to come from connections, I must be valuable to the marketplace.
May God help us❤️🙏
Discipline is one of the most powerful tool you have to succeed. A few tips to help you cultivate it:
0. Eat well, sleep well, …
1. Focus on one thing only
2. Delete TikTok and turn off ur phone
3. Put it in your calendar
4. No excuse, no exception
(Thread continues🧵👇)
…
Soo my mom told me to prepare 3cups of rice for 4 people and it was my first time cooking rice 💀 I thought it won’t be enough, so as a supposed sharp guy I brought everybody’s plate out and put rice that’ll be enough in each plate🥺 Omo when the rice boil finish 😂😂😂😂
My uncle used to work for the punch as a photographer
I stole fish from the pot and my dad called my uncle to come.
They made me hold the fish and my uncle just dey use flash dey deceive me say e dey snap
They said I'd be on front page on Monday and everyone will know I'm a thief.
I cry sotay I slept off. Till this day I no dey comot meat from pot.
This is interesting, so based on the daily progressive rate it should be 32 hrs by Friday😂
I wish I could have a straight-line progressive report for a week, sadly this one isn't quite feasible.
BTW Monday was majorly research hence the minimum code time.