When I was 16 (2001), I bought "Teach Yourself C" by Herbert Schildt, a video card and a Sony Trinitron with my summer job savings. I got to the end of chapter 5 where Herb starts talking crazy about multi-dimensional arrays, saw the next chapter was literal witchcraft and gibberish (pointers), got overwhelmed and decided I was on to plan B: become a rock star. Programming was just too hard. I used what I learned to program my TI-82 and cheat on math exams.
Fast forward a couple years, and I'm in my first semester in college. I had some advisor (no recollection whatsoever who it was) recommend that I avoid declaring a major for a semester and just take a few courses in a variety of my interests. What a life saver.
I bought my first Java book and started digging into it. It was a lot more approachable than the C book (sorry Herb!). I attended the first class and realized I'd already read past the end of what the class covered. That started a 15+ year journey (so far) on a path I thought I'd turned away from.
I still play and enjoy the guitar. But I know I'll never be better as a musician than I am as a technologist.
Fast forward a couple years, and I'm in my first semester in college. I had some advisor (no recollection whatsoever who it was) recommend that I avoid declaring a major for a semester and just take a few courses in a variety of my interests. What a life saver.
I bought my first Java book and started digging into it. It was a lot more approachable than the C book (sorry Herb!). I attended the first class and realized I'd already read past the end of what the class covered. That started a 15+ year journey (so far) on a path I thought I'd turned away from.
I still play and enjoy the guitar. But I know I'll never be better as a musician than I am as a technologist.