Why I Fell in Love with Technology & Coding 💻

I shared part of my story on LinkedIn, and the response was heartwarming. So many people reached out, saying they related to my journey or found it inspiring. It made me realize how powerful our stories can be when we share them.

So, here it is - the full story of how I fell in love with technology and coding. It's a journey of discovery, purpose, and finding my own path. It started with a little girl wanting to be like her mom.

A Different Dream

I told my mom I wanted to be a teacher.

It wasn't a random dream. I had grown up watching her in the classroom. Not just teaching, but teaching with her whole heart. She was passionate, inventive, alive in a way that made me want to follow right in her footsteps. I caught the love of learning and passing that spark on to others.

But when I shared my dream, her response wasn't what I expected.

"Don't be a teacher," she said gently. "Be a computer engineer. That is where the future is headed."

Her words weren't dismissive - they were protective. We lived in West Virginia, where teachers ranked near the bottom for salaries in the U.S. (dead last at times). My mom knew the sacrifice - the financial struggle - the way teachers had to fight just to stay afloat. She wanted something better for me.

"Do that for thirty years," she told me, "and then, if you still want to teach, you'll be set."

Her advice didn't erase my love for teaching. It planted a new seed alongside it.

Technology.

And once it was planted, it grew like wildfire. 🌱

New Dreams Take Shape

My mom was both a teacher and the unofficial tech support at her school. She started teaching me everything she knew about technology. Mainly, it was fixing projectors, restarting computers, and setting up printers, but I loved it all! Since my mom had a classroom of children to teach, soon I became that kid who was getting pulled out of class to help teachers with their computer problems.

I started learning more and I was naturally good at it.

In third grade, my "I Have a Dream" essay was about "taking technology to a new level like Steve Jobs." (Never mind that I thought the CEO was the one writing all the code 😅). The dream was forming, even if the details were still a little blurry.

By middle school, that dream turned into obsession. While friends watched cartoons all summer, I was glued to MIT lectures on iTunesU. Most of the content flew right over my head, but I couldn't stop taking notes. 🎓 It was like discovering a language I didn't yet understand, but somehow already loved.

The Moment Everything Changed

Then came the moment that sealed everything:

High school. Computer Science class. No fancy software. Just Notepad. A few lines of shaky code:

System.out.println("Hello, World!");

I compiled it, hit run, and there it was. My first creation. ✨

I snapped a picture and sent it to my dad. His reply came almost instantly: "I am so proud of you." 🥹

That moment changed me. Technology wasn't just machines and screens anymore. It was a world where I could create, problem-solve, and dream. A place where logic and creativity coexisted - a rare kind of magic.

A Story of Inheritance

Looking back now, I see how my journey isn't just about falling in love with technology. It's about inheritance. My mom passed on to me both her love for teaching and her wisdom to carve a path that could sustain me. Technology became the bridge between those two callings.

Some people fall in love with music, or dance, or painting. I fell in love with syntax and semicolons. And to me, they felt just as poetic.

For me, technology isn't just a career. It's the spark my mom handed me when she said, "Do computer engineering." It's the language that lets me teach, create, and dream all at once.

And it's the love story I'm still writing. ✨

It evolves with every project I ship, every line of code I write, and every topic I teach. The spark she lit that day still glows, and I carry it like a lamp, small but steady, as I keep walking toward a life that blends code and curriculum, creation and care.

To all the dreamers out there: Sometimes the best paths aren't the ones we initially imagine for ourselves. They're the ones that combine our passions in unexpected ways.