In 2008, a significant moment from my childhood occurred when we got our first family PC, a Pentium Dual Core. I was around 4 or 5 years old, and this new piece of technology captivated me. I spent countless hours beside my father, watching him work, or with my mother, listening to songs she played from DVDs. Like any curious kid, I split my time between playing games and clicking on every option I could find, trying to understand how everything worked. I wasn't a prodigy hacking into government systems; I was simply a kid, exploring the endless possibilities that the PC offered. As time went on, we moved from the family PC to a Sony laptop, but my routine stayed the same – games, exploration, and a bit of digital mischief.
Right from a young age, I was driven by curiosity about how things worked. The world seemed like a vast playground of mysteries waiting to be unraveled, and I was determined to explore every nook and cranny. Passionate about learning, I spent countless hours exploring the internet and engaging in conversations with anyone willing to share knowledge.
“Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.”
The most important person in these conversations was my uncle, a web developer. Whenever I had the chance to meet him, I would eagerly bombard him with questions. Day or night, weekday or holiday, my curiosity knew no bounds, and sometimes he would good-naturedly express a hint of exhaustion from my unending inquiries. Yet, his patient explanations and willingness to share his expertise became a cornerstone of my learning journey. It was never about grades or academic achievements; it was a hunger for understanding, a relentless pursuit of knowledge that fueled my days and nights
Then came the turning point – a moment that would awaken the engineer within me. Both the laptop and the PC stopped working, leaving me with more than just a broken screen. I wanted to understand the inner workings of these devices. I discovered a newfound passion for dismantling gadgets, although I quickly realized I lacked expertise in this art. None of the gadgets I ever dismantled were reassembled correctly. My curious mind craved answers on how to fix and reassemble these complicated pieces properly.
Interestingly, while many chose to study computer science formally or because of trends, I took a different path. Computer science wasn't a subject in the academic sense; it was a realm of fascination that I explored independently. I grew not only in knowledge but also in the ability to share and collaborate. The hunger for learning new things was not a solitary pursuit; it became a journey to grow with others. I found like-minded individuals, forming a community bound by the shared passion.