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How I knew programming was for me?

In high school, the special education teacher who was assigned to teach the 'Computer' class. He taught us (maybe 5 of us in the class) Basic on Apple IIe and using various apps (word processing, database, spreadsheet). One day he brought in his personal Macintosh and showed how one could write code 'underneath' clicks to perform operations. Using Pascal, I popped up messages, made beeping sounds, etc. Blew my mind.

Seeing my and other's interest, he got the board to approve a 'Advanced Comp' class for the next semester.

First day, the room was packed.

Teacher: "Raise of hands, who thinks this class is 'Advanced Composition'?"
<most of the room raises their hands>
Teacher: "That's Mr. Early's class. This is Advanced Computers. You're welcome to stay, but we're going to be writing programs and learning other computer related topics"

Next day, the class was just me. I knew then I wanted to do this the rest of my life.

Thank you Mr. Hitt.

Comments
  • 1
    Cool guy. We just played Caesar III in computer class. Didn't do any actual programming till high school, and then only one year. Took me another fifteen years to come back, but boy does it feel like home, even if there's some mold in the corners :-p
  • 0
    "Look to your left. Look to your right. Who thinks this is advanced composition? Anyone who raised their hand is going to have a difficult life."
  • 1
    @ArcaneEye

    >Cool guy

    Oh my, yes. His primary area of teaching was in computers and only got hired for special ed (different/more competitive times back then?). Small school (only 30 in my graduating class) and teachers often taught more than one subject.

    Being the only student, he/we would often divert to philosophical discussions about Star Trek, Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, The Far Side, etc.

    I can say now with near 100% certainty, he was the 'odd man out' in the teachers lounge.

    I remember him saying "If I wanted to talk about sports, I would get a lobotomy, then I could relate." and spend 20 minutes talking about the social relevance of "Pee Wee's Playhouse"
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