Until recently, Lanyia Brooks worked as a custodian in a data center, where she spent her days maintaining the facility while watching tech professionals build the infrastructure around her. Brooks said that perspective changed completely when a data center technician noticed her work ethic and remarked that she “worked too hard to be just working as a custodian,” and sent her a link to a specialized career training program. Despite waiting two anxious months to hear back, Brooks was accepted, conquering her fears to take her very first airplane flight to Indianapolis for the opportunity. One week into the intensive program, Brooks says she is thriving in a high-energy environment alongside a deeply positive and ambitious cohort of classmates. “My immediate goal is to master my training and learning the ins and outs of physical servers and networking — with long-term plans to transition into an advanced technician role within a year,” she said.