I get sick and tired of the jokes about old people and technology. Sure, your grandpa or grandma may struggle with the speed of today’s machinery, but that definitely doesn’t mean we can’t do it. Everyone needs a hand with something. 

Here in Clarksdale, Miss., there’s a lot of hands needed, especially ones that show kids that they can be something right here in the Delta. Although I’m 64 myself, I joined a coding training program to show my 19-year-old granddaughter that it’s never too late to take on new opportunities and to make new opportunities for herself. 

I never thought of myself as a “techie,” but my granddaughter Spirit seemed like she would be perfect for it. Mississippi Coding Academies was designed for someone like her who is young and sharp. The program trains people who lack the financial status they would’ve liked to have received from their previous education.

At the time, Spirit was managing a uniform shop. I didn’t think she would learn about this amazing chance on her own, but I thought if she heard about her grandmother doing it, she would be motivated to join me in doing so. More often than not, opportunities are right in front of us if we know where to look; I found out about MCA while scrolling on Facebook. 

The program was hard to catch onto at first. Having known just a little about computers to start out with, I found myself ready to give up. I didn’t even have a computer at home to practice on.

“Now you want to quit?” Spirit asked me as I was ready to wave the white flag. “You got me into this.” 

That did it for me right there. I’d gotten her as invested as I was; now she was my motivator. People need that kind of help. Hands guide, but they also hold. Without Spirit’s help, I doubt I would’ve found the willpower to complete the program. 

Mississippi Coding Academy students
A majority of Mississippi Coding Academy participants come from under-served families that may not have college or high-school educations, and many earn only minimum wage when they begin the program. The coding academies have helped increase the annual incomes of their participants in Mississippi. Photo courtesy Mississippi Coding Academy  

There’s not enough support in Clarksdale, and the kids need more positive images to look up to. The percentage of people in poverty here is nearly four times higher than the rest of the country. No one wants to invest in a future here, it seems, so when people here get something of value (a skill, a business, etc.) they tend to pack it with them on the way out. 

That leaves very little for the people who stay, especially the young people still finding their ways in the world. They believe that they have no opportunities here because all the people who find opportunity appear to leave. Negativity weighs down the few possibilities available. Even the post where I found out about MCA was littered with mean comments that likely pushed away people who might have tried it. 

Part of that mentality stems from how it looks too good to be true—a free program offering high-value skill training in Clarksdale. Things like MCA are very much real. The Walton Family Foundation provides funding so that it is more accessible to the participants. Some people really do want to help, whether we are hesitant to believe it or not. 

Despite her trepidation and my struggle, Spirit and I both graduated from the program. Our graduating class was 12 people, all of whom received certifications for our training. Everyone in the program was open and respectful (one of the young kids even referred to me as Auntie). 

Now, we’re looking for jobs where we can apply our new skills. I really want to do work in nephrology, the branch of medicine specializing in kidneys. Kidney issues have given a lot of grief to my family, and I want to use my own hands to apply my new skills in that field. 

When people care enough to put programs in places that need them—to invest in the people in those places—it means there is something of value there. Investments aren’t placed without an expectation of returns. 

Mississippi Coding Academies’ expected returns are a skilled tech-based workforce. Skilled workforces, especially those in the ever-growing technology field, create chances, and that is exactly what Clarksdale needs. It also needs people who can show kids that they can take those chances.

I was able to do that for my granddaughter, and in the process, she did that for me. And we both came out of it with new skills and new opportunities, all through the work of a few helping hands. 

This MFP Voices essay does not necessarily represent the views of the Mississippi Free Press, its staff or board members. To submit an opinion for the MFP Voices section, send up to 1,200 words and sources fact-checking the included information to voices@mississippifreepress.org. We welcome a wide variety of viewpoints.

➡️ Read more stories from the Delta Bureau here.

Born in Greenville, Miss., to Alonzo Davis, Jr. and Doris J. Davis, Angela Strong is a self-proclaimed Army brat who traveled across the United States and Germany with her parents parents while growing. As a mother of seven children (four biological and three adopted) and a grandmother of three, she cherishes family time, especially with her grandchildren. She is the widow of Theodore Strong, Sr., and she served as a foster parent for 21 years. With a diverse background in customer service, she enjoys reading, writing poetry and spending time with her family.