Long story ahead cause it pretty much changed my life:
Freshmen year in High School my Algebra teacher was a first year teacher and told us his major was computer science. I didn't know what that meant at the time, but he was also the computer science teacher at the school. I ended up struggling in algebra the first few months, and he ended up taking me under his wing. I ended up staying after school to get tutoring help. Which lead to me staying with his computer science students sometimes and they showed some stuff they were doing and I was so amazed by it.
One day in class I was by his desk and saw he had some programming books. I took one and he said I could take it home with me. After he saw for 2 weeks me not wanting to give it back because I loved it so much he said "alright, go make a website using only this book, and I'll host it for you." I came back with a crappy website and next thing I knew he gave me own domain and hosted it for me. It was so cool to see something I made online. From there I was hooked. I kept that book until the last day of school and when I went to give it back to him he told me to wait. He started writing in it and wrote me a long note saying keep this, keep working, thanked me for making his first year so great, and more.
From then on I knew what I wanted to do. I taught myself C++ that summer and we kept in touch over next couple years. I would email him from time to time and he'd give me advice what to do next. He even gave me access to the computer science class one year and allowed me to take their quizzes.
12-13 years later I am a Lead Developer at a company doing what I love. I wish I could find him now to thank him for having such a profound influence in my life.
Long story ahead cause it pretty much changed my life:
Freshmen year in High School my Algebra teacher was a first year teacher and told us his major was computer science. I didn't know what that meant at the time, but he was also the computer science teacher at the school. I ended up struggling in algebra the first few months, and he ended up taking me under his wing. I ended up staying after school to get tutoring help. Which lead to me staying with his computer science students sometimes and they showed some stuff they were doing and I was so amazed by it.
One day in class I was by his desk and saw he had some programming books. I took one and he said I could take it home with me. After he saw for 2 weeks me not wanting to give it back because I loved it so much he said "alright, go make a website using only this book, and I'll host it for you." I came back with a crappy website and next thing I knew he gave me own domain and hosted it for me. It was so cool to see something I made online. From there I was hooked. I kept that book until the last day of school and when I went to give it back to him he told me to wait. He started writing in it and wrote me a long note saying keep this, keep working, thanked me for making his first year so great, and more.
From then on I knew what I wanted to do. I taught myself C++ that summer and we kept in touch over next couple years. I would email him from time to time and he'd give me advice what to do next. He even gave me access to the computer science class one year and allowed me to take their quizzes.
12-13 years later I am a Lead Developer at a company doing what I love. I wish I could find him now to thank him for having such a profound influence in my life.
What an amazing teacher!