After deciding he wanted to understand technology from the ground up, Jonny Blevins turned to CanCode Communities. Today, he’s a Senior LAN Administrator for the New York State Appellate Division, Third Department.
In 2023, Jonny Blevins was managing people at a security company.
On paper, he was successful. But something about his job bothered him.
Jonny was overseeing technical work involving access control, CCTV and programming—but when one of his employees encountered a problem, he didn’t always understand the technology well enough to help solve it.
“I wanted to become an individual contributor,” Jonny said. “I wanted to become a better manager by doing the actual work.”
So Jonny made a major decision.
**He quit his job and started teaching himself to code.**
“Pivoting Seemed Impossible”
Jonny began experimenting with Python on his own before eventually enrolling in a web development course through CanCode Communities.
There was just one problem.
He was in his 30s.
“I’m in my 30s, so pivoting seemed impossible,” Jonny said.
The traditional route of returning to college didn’t appeal to him. It would require money he didn’t necessarily have and time he didn’t want to give up.
CanCode offered another way in.
And for Jonny, that mattered.
Growing up in rural West Virginia, he says he had developed a belief that certain opportunities simply weren’t meant for people like him.
Technology forced him to challenge that assumption.
“You can start from anywhere as long as you’re willing to put one foot in front of the other,” he said.
From Python to Putting His First Website Online
Through CanCode, Jonny studied **web development, Python for data science and AI.**
But one of his biggest breakthroughs came from something deceptively simple: building a webpage and putting it online.
Suddenly, he could see what his code had created.
“The moment that I knew something could happen was posting a webpage live,” Jonny recalled.
That moment helped break down another fear: that technology was somehow too complicated—or that one wrong move could break everything.
Jonny likes to point to a familiar keyboard command as evidence.
Control + Z.
Undo.
“The barrier that you think exists really is not there,” he said.
The more Jonny learned, the more technology became something he could explore, troubleshoot and understand.
Three Years Later, He Works in IT for New York’s Court System
Today, the man who once felt frustrated managing technical work he couldn’t fully understand is doing that work himself.
Jonny is now a Senior LAN Administrator for the New York State Appellate Division, Third Department.
His job can involve everything from working with scripts and cloud technology to network files, troubleshooting and helping people solve everyday technology problems.
And the Python, web development and technical foundations he learned through CanCode still matter.
Jonny says those skills have made him more comfortable when he encounters old scripts or unfamiliar technical problems because he can understand how the pieces connect.
He isn’t simply asking someone else whether they fixed the problem anymore.
He can help figure out why it isn’t working.
Can Code Also Gave Jonny a Community
The technical education changed Jonny’s career.
The people he met changed his life in another way.
Through CanCode, Jonny met a classmate named Shifra who became one of his closest friends and an important part of his journey into technology.
Their learning didn’t end when class did.
The two eventually worked together at GE and studied for AWS certifications outside of work.
“There’s no Jonny without Shifra in some of these instances,” he said.
CanCode also connected Jonny with Albany’s larger technology community—a community he says he otherwise may never have found.
“It’s changed my life in the way that I feel like I’m more at home and I have a place to belong in Albany,” he said.
“My Future Is a Lot More Secure”
Jonny has worn a lot of hats.
He’s been an educator. He’s worked in construction. He’s managed teams.
But today, he says he feels more secure about his future than he ever has before.
“I’ve never felt so secure as I have now that I know that I am riding the tide of the future.”
That security isn’t only about work.
Jonny says he’s now thinking about possibilities in his personal life, too—including potentially fostering a child.
And when he looks back at a career change that once seemed impossible, the timeline is striking.
It took about three years.
Jonny believes he would have found success without CanCode. But he doesn’t believe it would have happened nearly as quickly.
Whether someone is a working professional, retiree, college student or college dropout, Jonny believes technology education can give people another path forward.
“Everybody can show up,” he said, “and everybody can sit at the table with you.”
Help Someone Else Find Their Way Into Tech
Jonny didn’t need someone to tell him what his next career should be.
He needed access to the skills, people and opportunities that could help him build it.
CanCode Communities gave him a place to start.
Your support can help someone else find theirs.
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