My dad bought our family our first computer when I was ten years old, a Texas Instrument TI-99/4A. My sister and I spent countless hours in front of this strange looking device trying to understand it, and learning how to program it. We learned BASIC and wrote programs that created shapes that moved across the screen. Not knowing we could save our programs to cassette tapes we recorded them in a notebook and every day we would wake up very early before school to re-type our programs and run them. After a while our programs became so big that this endeavor would take us hours. This was a lot of work but seeing the programs run was so rewarding, and the experience a bonding opportunity with my sister.
Many years later when I was in graduate school studying computer engineering I came across the notebooks in an old box in the basement. There were so many of them … they looked old and the ink was fading. Only then did I realize that by brining this TI-99 home my dad was shaping my future, a future filled with hard work, lots of learning, sacrifice, and a deep love for technology.
Success is not only shaped by strength, but also perseverance: it’s about waking up every day and fighting the little battles. Some of them we win, and with the others we learn. I think the purpose is to learn, and to do it quickly and consistently so that we can shape a path not only for ourselves but for others as well.
We all had these significant moments in life that shaped us … What was your moment? What are the things you kept in your notebook?
Dr. Julieta Ross 