I got into IT because of Hanson

That's me on a computer posing for a promotion campaign. 

Like many people in this field, it was a no-brainer. I knew before I was supposed to know. Also like many others, I started somewhat young.

But unlike many others, I didn't come from a family of 'computer people' - or even technical people at all. My parents had very limited knowledge/experience in computers. 

My interest in computer science began when I was a teenager. It all started when my best friend, another friend of ours and I decided to skip school one morning to travel to Sydney to see the band Hanson, as they were making a television appearance at Channel V Studios. You guys remember Hanson, right? Three brothers from Oklahoma, long blonde hair? MMMBop?

Hanson circa 1997. They don't look like this any more.

We got there really early and lined up with all our fellow Hanson fans. Hanson weren't due to appear for another five hours (yes you read that right) but we were there anyway. It was pouring down with rain and it didn't matter that we were hungry and cold. We were running on pure adrenaline. We were going to see Hanson(!)

While waiting in line, I made a new friend. She was really bubbly, super friendly, from Sydney's North Shore and was also a Filipino Australian, like me. She was the same age as me and we clicked right away.

Hanson came and went. We got some pictures. I managed to give Taylor Hanson some Tim Tams. Tears were shed and the three of us went home PUMPED and unable to shut up.

But we didn't leave without swapping contact details with my new friend. We promised to talk as often as we can and that we did. 

My new friend had a bit of a rebellious streak and I admired and envied that at the same time. She was enigmatic. For someone like me who lived in regional NSW and whose world revolved around Hanson and Dragon Ball Z, she opened my eyes to a lot of things.  She got me into punk music, makeup and HTML and CSS. 

Before then I had no idea what HTML or CSS was, but I had already embarked on a love affair with the Internet. I said to my friend, "Those websites I see everyday, I can create and design one myself?" She showed me her website that she had built that housed her online diary, her adventures following Hanson around the country as well as her teenage angst-ridden poetry.  As for me? I wanted to build a Hanson fan website as well.

My friend showed me the basics of HTML and CSS pointed me in the direction of Lissa Explains, a website teaching kids how to build websites, written by Lissa - a kid herself at the time. Using Lissa Explains and some help from my friend when needed, I built my first ever website. The website was dedicated to Hanson of course. 

The screencap for Lissa Explains, which has been online for almost 20 years!

The time came for me to finish school and sit the HSC. That also meant trying to figure out what to do afterwards - aka University or technical college. The natural choice for me was either Information Technology or something to do with multimedia.

I had my heart set on IT but I was intimidated by the other side of IT - the literal and figurative nuts and bolts. I thought at the time that a career in IT meant fixing computers all day long. I wasn't interested in that. I just wanted to build websites. Development and programming wasn't provided in the IT curriculum at my school.

So instead, I ended up studying molecular biology, with tentative plans to pivot into medicine to please my parents and to see if I could accomplish the seemingly impossible task of becoming a doctor. I finished that degree, wasn't accepted into medical school, got a job, saved money and then was on my merry way. My career took me all over the place - I even worked as a graphic designer for a little while. I experienced some success but my heart wasn't in the right place. Something was missing.

In 2012, just after I got back from visiting friends in the United States, my contract at my work ended and I made the decision to leave Sydney. I then went back to school to study IT. At the same time, I had befriended web and software developers on Twitter who opened my eyes the same way L did all those years ago. I would have done anything to ignite my passion for work again and I believed returning to my first love was the way to go.

I came back to the city where I went to Uni just so I could go back to study. In two years I became a qualified full-stack developer and graduated with distinction. I did an internship while I was studying and also ran my business. Now, I’m gathering requirements, building programs and applications to solve business problems — it’s empowering stuff!! Most days I have to pinch myself because I’m ‘doing what I love’. Not many people in this world are that lucky.

My mum was not impressed I skipped school that day, but considering everything that's happened, it was worth it.

Bonus!

 

That's a picture of me (on the left), my best friend and Osher Gunsberg, the host of Channel V at the time, taken on that Fateful Day that set the course of the rest of my life. Notice my anime/manga inspired t-shirt ...