I was lucky; my parents encouraged me to try things and see what I enjoyed, then supported me in exploring those things more deeply.
When I was 9, there was a local association (Tacoma Area Council on Giftedness) that offered after-school and weekend classes in various things for kids. My parents showed me the list and asked if any of them looked interesting; I decided to try a BASIC programming class.
I loved it. Figuring out how to get a computer to do things? Absolute fun.
I took a second ("intermediate BASIC") class, then a third. My parents saved up and bought me a secondhand Apple II; I saved up and bought a secondhand 300 bps modem, leading me to discovering BBSes and FidoNet.
By the time I got to college, I knew I wanted to do things with computers and networks. Working at the help desk got me started on Unix; IRC taught me about TCP/IP.
A year after graduation, I talked my way into a system administration job--for the EFF.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2013-08-20 03:33 pm (UTC)I was lucky; my parents encouraged me to try things and see what I enjoyed, then supported me in exploring those things more deeply.
When I was 9, there was a local association (Tacoma Area Council on Giftedness) that offered after-school and weekend classes in various things for kids. My parents showed me the list and asked if any of them looked interesting; I decided to try a BASIC programming class.
I loved it. Figuring out how to get a computer to do things? Absolute fun.
I took a second ("intermediate BASIC") class, then a third. My parents saved up and bought me a secondhand Apple II; I saved up and bought a secondhand 300 bps modem, leading me to discovering BBSes and FidoNet.
By the time I got to college, I knew I wanted to do things with computers and networks. Working at the help desk got me started on Unix; IRC taught me about TCP/IP.
A year after graduation, I talked my way into a system administration job--for the EFF.
These days, I work for a fairly large company that does one or two Internet-ish things, and I love it.