How My Programming Odyssey Began
When I was around 4 or 5 years old, I had a lot of contact with video games. I played a lot of Looney Tunes B-Ball on Super Nintendo with my uncles, Dragon Ball Z: The Legend on PlayStation 1 with my cousin, and eventually, I started going to arcades to play Super Mario World and Street Fighter. As I grew older, I began visiting internet cafés frequently and playing a lot of Counter-Strike. That's how my journey with computers began, because of video games.
While I was playing more and more and having a lot of contact with computers, I started to get curious about them—about the internet, about how to solve the simple problems we sometimes had to deal with. I would wonder: “Why don't my games open? Why is my computer so slow? How can I install a new game? How a DVD-ROM is different from a DVD, and why the f*** can't I erase the things on it to put other things?” This journey started when I was around 7/8 years old. Over time, this curiosity and everyday problem-solving led me to become pretty good at messing around with computers, even though I didn't know that programming existed yet.
After spending years playing video games, I stumbled upon an intriguing question: “How does this world appear on my screen?”. It was during my early hours with Minecraft when I discovered something fascinating—people could create extra features for the game!! And they did it using a programming language called Java!! And that was the same language used to create the game itself!! Although I quickly returned to gathering some wood, this discovery marked my presentation to the world of programming. It sparked a lasting curiosity that stayed with me.
When I was 14 years old, during a family trip, in a library, my father encouraged me to pick out a book. Looking around, I came across “Think Python” with its distinctive O'Reilly cover, and instantly that curiosity took over me and I decided to get it. This marked the beginning of my journey into programming. I remember using an Android app called QPython, because I didn't have a computer back then, to practice writing examples and solving exercises that appeared while I was reading the book.
Three years later, inspired by “Think Python,” I enrolled in the Computer Science program at São Paulo State University (UNESP). Four years after that, I graduated as a Computer Scientist.
This story is to remember myself how a young boy's curiosity led to immense changes in my life. It demonstrates that every small decision can alter our path significantly, and I'm proud of the choices that curious boy made. And as a sign of gratitude to the little boy, I will continue to guide myself with curiosity and a passion for understanding how the world around me works and to always do what makes me have fun.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones,
Sea.