How I Became A Programmer
It was around 1982 when my school bought a Radioshack TRS-80 computer. This was the first computer I had ever seen and my curiosity soared. Nobody in the school understood how to use the machine, but everyone was eager to try and figure it out.
The programs were stored on analog cassette tapes and every time the machine was turned off and on, the data had to be reloaded into the computer. It was extremely frustrating for most of the students, and as such, the novelty of the computer wore off as each of the students dabbled and quickly lost interest in it altogether.
Still, I was overly curious about the computer, and stayed after school every night just to use it. Before long, I began learning BASIC programming. I didn't have a teacher, because nobody in the school knew anything about computing. Instead, I began working things out by analyzing the BASIC programming codes found in the programs that the school had on file. I was writing very simple games and making incredible progress at such an early age and with no mentor.
It was rather entertaining to see other students using my programs. Since the school didn't allow gaming programs, I didn't take any credit for the hard work and dedication that I put into my simple games. After a while, my games became popular amongst the students in my school, and the popularity of the computer rose once again. The teachers were thrilled at first that more students were showing interest, but when they finally realized that the kids were playing games with it, our computer privileges were soon taken away completely.
I begged the principal for special permission to continue my studies. When he discovered that I had written the games, I was banned from it altogether. The computer was then locked up in the principal's office, and nobody was allowed to use it.
My family was too poor to buy a computer. I begged my mother constantly, reassuring her that it would be a wise investment. Since my brother and sisters showed no interest, I was out of luck. I sought out friends in school who had personal computers, thinking I could create games for them as an excuse to use their computer. When those friends realized the painstaking hours of programming that was involved, they became bored. To them, it wasn't worth the trouble, and most often they would coerce me into just going down to the local arcade to play some Pacman.
It seemed everyone I knew was into playing video games, but nobody was interested in programming. It wasn't until I was old enough to live on my own that I bought my first computer.
At that time, desktop computing was still very new. There really wasn't any commercial Internet, although bulletin boards were popular amongst middle-classed families who could afford to buy the equipment. My Commodore 64 provided a means to continue my BASIC programming studies, but it was already outdated by the computers of the day. It would be a few more years before I bought my first 'real' computer.
In 1995, it seemed like the entire planet was connecting to the Internet. I would visit various friends who owned computers to play popular games. Although these games were amusing to me, I still wanted to program. Now that I owned my own 486DX4 100mhz computer with a whopping 16MB of RAM, there wasn't anything or anyone to hold me back.
All of my computer geek friends were into gaming, so it didn't take me long to join in with the others in a local gaming community. After all, I had the fastest computer and was the envy of all of my friends. We used to link our computers together and play Doom II and Duke Nukem for hours at a time. I began paying my own Internet bill and would spend 16 hours a day connected to the Internet on a dedicated telephone line. I began making cool little tools that other gamers would find handy, and built my first website to share my efforts with the World Wide Web. I had no real direction, but I was doing what I loved to do.
The website that I built started to gain popularity on the Internet and as a result, the local Internet Service Provider that I paid for the web space pointed out the bandwidth that my site was using. I was thrilled for the popularity, but never could have expected the outcome of my labor. I was offered a job by the ISP and put to work as a computer repair serviceman and eventually their full time website developer.
I have always been an innovative kind of guy; always figured out ways to earn money. Every time I have ever tried working a regular job, I would either quit or get fired. The problem was usually that I would get bored with the work. Employers rarely challenged me or put me in a working environment that took advantage of my actual skills.
I enjoyed working for the local ISP, but there eventually came a time when I realized that they just weren't paying me enough for the kind of work that I was doing. In fact, I felt that they were making way too much money off of me.
In 1998, I decided to move into the city and start my own website design business, and I have been doing so ever since! I've kept my business small and easy to manage, I don't hire employees because I can do everything myself. There's no need to open up shop because I can do everything at home. Sure, there are times when business is too slow to provide a reasonable income, but I have always kept myself busy with other interests too such as photography, graphics, music gigs, and so on.
I enjoy being my own boss, setting my own hours, and being responsible for hundreds of customer's intellectual property. It's nice to be appreciated and trusted by my clients.
I guess when I look back, despite life's constant obstacles, I ended up doing just about everything that I ever wanted to do. I am a programmer. I am a musician. And I have picked up a few unexpected talents along the way as well, such as photography and even writing. My latest fascination has been with sleight of hand card magic. I couldn't possibly predict what other new abilities I'll add in the next 10 years, but I have a feeling I'll still be programming.