Three Stories of Students Who Changed Their Lives with 42

Since 42 first opened its doors in 2013, we've often talked about the transformative power of our learning model. But what does that actually look like? Behind the idea are real people whose lives have taken unexpected turns, both personally and professionally, after joining 42.

Erwan Fayolle, 42 Lyon, Cohort 2023

Today: Level 14 of the curriculum, multiple hackathon wins, and a community of friends.

Erwan struggled with severe school and social phobia and left school before completing his baccalaureate. For months, he found it difficult to leave the house, often spending his days playing video games. Eventually, on his father’s advice, he found the courage to apply to 42 Lyon.

He was accepted into a Piscine, and that’s where things started to change. During the first few days, the campus team put several accommodations in place to support his needs. But as the days went by, Erwan gradually found himself needing them less. He began opening up to others, making friends, and feeling more comfortable in his surroundings.

As Erwan puts it: “After joining 42, I felt that, at long last, I had found my calling. All of a sudden, I had purpose, I made friends and I wasn’t scared to be who I am.”

A few weeks later, Erwan successfully completed his Piscine and joined 42 Lyon for the following Kick-off. Since then, he has reached level 14 of the curriculum, won multiple hackathons, and built lasting friendships along the way. Perhaps most tellingly, during his first two years, he was on campus by 8:30 a.m. every morning. Not bad for someone who, before joining 42, had told his dad there was “no way he’d wake up every morning to go to campus.”

A cluster of 42 Lyon.

Lim Eng Chuan “Alec”, 42 Kuala Lumpur, Cohort 2021

Today: Software engineer at a Finexus Group, where he has been working for over three years.

Born with a hearing impairment, Alec struggled to find a place where he truly felt he belonged. After exploring different career paths, from consulting to graphic design, he eventually discovered computer science and programming. When he heard about the opening of 42 Kuala Lumpur, he felt that the school and its learning model could be a good fit for him. He passed the online games and signed up for one of the campus’s first Piscines.

He was nervous at first, but soon discovered a community where he wasn’t defined by his hearing impairment and, more importantly, where he felt welcome and included. To his surprise, his fellow Piscine candidates showed great kindness and patience. Since he communicated with others through writing and text messages, interactions sometimes took a little longer, but many people went out of their way to make sure he could participate fully.

Alec successfully completed his Piscine and went on to complete the Core Curriculum. He also earned C and C++ certifications before landing a job as a software engineer at a fintech company, where he has now been working for more than three years.

A cluster of 42 Paris.

Charlotte Vermandel, 42 Paris, Cohort 2017

Today: Founding software engineer at Tengo, an AI-powered procurement platform that helps organizations find and respond to tenders at scale.

At 26, Charlotte had stopped expecting much from her career. She had attempted to earn her baccalaureate three times and failed each time. Working as a security officer, she had come to believe that traditional education simply wasn’t for her. After hearing about 42 from friends, she decided to give it a try, despite being deeply skeptical that she would make it through. She passed the online games and soon found herself taking part in the Piscine. But her past experiences still weighed heavily on her mind, and she was convinced it was only a matter of days before she fell behind.

What happened next surprised her. At 42, things finally clicked. The peer-learning environment and project-based methodology made sense to her, and before long, she had become someone others turned to for help. Among them were people with prestigious academic backgrounds, whom she had never imagined she would one day be in a position to help. After years of feeling like an academic failure, she gradually regained her confidence.

As she puts it: “Without 42, I would likely still be working in my old job, which had turned into a bit of a comfortable hiding spot for me. Thanks to 42, I unlocked horizons I never imagined I could reach.”

Today, Charlotte is the founding software engineer at Tengo, helping build a platform that tackles complex procurement challenges.

These three journeys are very different, but they share something important: the opportunity to discover new abilities, build confidence, and open doors that once seemed out of reach.

And Charlotte, Alec, and Erwan are far from the only ones. Across the 42 network, there are countless similar stories of people who have found a new direction, a community, and opportunities they might never have imagined before joining 42.