The Prank that Taught Me to Code
My First Adventure in Programming
Recently I received a panicked call from my wife. Something had run across the room and hid in the closet. Was it a mouse? I spent that evening emptying the closet of all contents in search of the culprit. No rodents were found that night, but I did stumble upon a box containing my old school papers. One was an essay, my college application. It contained the story about how I learned to code.
Today I read that Amber Case is collecting stories about how people learned to program. Her rationale is pretty straight forward:
I get asked a few times a week how people can learn to program. I felt like if more people shared their stories it might help people to understand how many different ways people teach themselves to work with code.
So I thought it’d be fun to share some excerpts from my essay. We had to write about what type of person we were in 6th grade. Here’s a bit from my intro:
Pencil marks on the doorway to my kitchen indicated that I was 5'1" at the time. Photo albums expose me as a strangely dressed young boy with crooked glasses that were bent and scratched as a result of vigorous horseplay. My blond hair suffered from poor combing and formed a wave over my forehead. I won’t lie, I was a borderline nerd. The important fact was that I realized this and constantly attempted to improve my appearance. Looking good was a key priority in the 6th grade.
Typical geek background, right? What about my financial habits?
I spent my hard earned cash on video games. It must have been an obsession because I purchased hundreds of dollars worth of hardware and software. Magazines would tempt me with the newest merchandise until my determination to possess it was absolute. The most rewarding part was going to the store, pulling forth my horde of earnings, and demonstrating my newfound purchasing power. This ritual seems silly in retrospect, but I relished it at the time.
That actually seems pretty mainstream these days. What about my academic background?
Going to school was a very different process in my youth. It seemed to me, at the time, that everything I needed could be found at school. Camaraderie could be found in the constant class environment and having one teacher for the entire year enabled my classmates and me to form a tightly bound group. Recreation was thoroughly enjoyed during recess, ample food was allotted during lunch, and incredible mysteries were explained in class everyday. With all these benefits, school was the ultimate pastime.
OK. Sounds good. But how did I learn to code?
Events of tremendous impact stand clearly in my memory of this time period. One such event involved a computer and a lesson on behavior. The fact that my classroom was in possession of its own Apple II computer was very exciting for me. Mr. Gray, my teacher, would show the class simple computer programs that older kids had written. Others were content to run these programs, but I had other plans. During my free time I tampered with the program, causing it to incorporate vulgar language in its otherwise harmless routine. Eventually my efforts were discovered and Mr. Gray expressed his highest displeasure with my conduct. My little act of mischief may seem insignificant but it has stayed with me ever since as a reminder that there will always be consequences for my actions.
And there it is. My first coding exercise was a simple prank, an attempt to make people laugh. Once I started reading the code and experimenting with changes, it was so easy. I’ve often thought about that time and how I appreciated the opportunity to learn a little about how the mysterious computer worked.
Last year I heard that Mr. Gray passed away. I wish I’d been able to let him know how much that class meant to me. If you’re taking the time to teach someone how to program, even if it’s just getting them started then turning them loose, I’d like to say thanks.
