I started coding as a very young girl… I grew up on a farm and my dad is an engineer. He’s pretty nerdy, as am I, and he always bought us the latest new computer (it’s important to note that he would not spend a penny on cable TV). This was back before computers were even a thing.. So, my brother and I were kind of drawn to it.. there really wasn’t anything else to do but read or play soccer outside!
My dad had this IBM and it was a late 80s model. We started playing on it; initially, with my mom, sometime before first grade. We would play with The PrintShop.
I LOVED coding the path to my floppy disk and debugging any issues during the summer time, when there was nothing to do. I would jump on the computer without a timeline and not move until I could debug the program and get it to work. This could take hours, depending on the issue, but the satisfaction of figuring out how to get to the main PrintShop screen after the directory was not found or whatever the issue… it was like nothing I had ever had before.
It was, as silly as this sounds, magic. No one was there and I’m not sure why I was so mesmorized by the green and black screen.. it was referred to as DOS. I printed out custom made banners and put them all over the house. It was seriously fun.. I know it sounds super boring, but it was so much fun.
I did this for years and again my dad continued to get us the latest computer. I continued to obsess over them and spent all of my time afterschool on them. It only made sense to do what I love in college, which was code; however, it was so new then and I wasn’t very sure of myself. Now, I know its my passion and I can see my debugging brain working on the daily in life.. No matter the issue, I constantly try to see how to operate in better ways or how to work on different processes. Troubleshooting is something inherently a part of my thinking, probably because of my dad, but either way.. Coding is a huge part of my life and believe it or not, it’s a part of yours, too.