I initially took IM for 2 reasons; to get a bit familiar with coding incase I need to adjust parts of my website, and because all my IM major friends told me I’d enjoy it, which I did. But having looked at and understood how such interesting things can and are made with coding has been really interesting and thought provoking for me. From the games that I used to think only professionals could make, to mind blowing interactive art.
In high school I took a course that taught us about the impact of computing on the world, from RFID to the Internet and security. But in this course I learnt to actually make things and work with computing, and actually do something. Coding is still very challenging for me to wrap my head around, but I no longer see it as a foreign skill that only certain people can do.
Throughout my childhood, whenever I was asked what I wanted to become, my only answer was “An inventor”. Not a doctor or lawyer or even an artist. Inventor. I was told that is not a job and so I sort of slowly let it go. I still remember when we got our IM kits, and I saw it said “Inventor’s kit”. It felt like destiny.
I still feel a bit intimidated by coding and computing but I definitely feel it has given me much more room for exploration.