I came to computers kicking and screaming. I was that person that was afraid to touch a key on the keyboard in case I broke the computer. AND…in those days, the computer was a mainframe, so when it ‘crashed’… everyone lost connection and you were unable to hide.
Prior to working with computers, I had been teaching high school for 5 years, and I loved every minute of it. When I was very young and throughout my school years, I could not wait for school to end so that I could go home and play school in my basement. I was such an after-school teacher fanatic that my parents found me a ‘real’ teacher’s desk, and later a ‘green’ chalkboard. I played school after school every day.
I went to college at Framingham University (formerly Framingham State), to become a teacher. I graduated and taught in Framingham for 5 years. At the end of my fifth year, the proposition 2½ initiative became active and many teachers were laid off because cities and towns could no longer afford the number of teachers they had been sustaining for years.
My good friend who also got laid off learned about a program that was being offered to laid-off teachers from Framingham. After intense peer pressure, I agreed to go – one day at a time. It was an intensive 2-month course to teach us how to write code – how to program – on computers. Yuck.
“I’m a people person, not a machine person I argued. I’m the one that the principal kept warning to stop hugging the students. I’m a hugger.”
I caved in and went to class… and I discovered something very interesting… The computer only does what you tell it to do. So, effectively, ‘coding’ was a game against yourself. If the computer wasn’t doing what you wanted it to do, it is because you were giving incorrect instructions. So I was in competition with myself! I loved it…no harm, no fowl.
And…that is how I started my computer career. How I ended up doing websites, is just a natural progression of my growth and learning after having programmed for everyone else for 15 years.