i've been into computers since my dad brought home an old commodore 64 from a firm he used to work at, they were getting rid of it and liked my dad, so he brought it home and had me punch in codes to play a game, my second computer was a 386sx that my dad built from one of those computer study at home courses.<p>i found two games hidden dos, one called snake and the other gorillas written in basic, i stared to learn basic at i think around 9 or 10 years old, we were homeschooled because my sister was chased into the bathroom by a guy who worked at the school who was a pedophile, so there's that, after a bad car accident that nearly killed my family, my parents decided to move out of philadelphia and into the country, it was great until i had to socialize, i spent most of my teenage years helping my disabled father, i don't regret it.<p>but i definitely had a hard life and don't have anything to show for it. i am judged as lazy because i didn't go to college right after graduating, i spent of my life as a hobbyist coder, programming in 7 or so languages, but i have nothing to show for it outside talking about it and showing people my pet projects, i did not believe in myself, struggled with depression and later on i finally realized i could go to college.<p>but, everyone was looking at surface me, a guy who people either think i was privileged growing up or lazy because of my job history being non-tech related. i don't even feel like finishing school, that's how far i feel behind in life, i wish i would have known sooner, but that's how life goes for some people. i am not lazy, i just don't make enough money to keep myself from failing in school, it's very stressful doing this as an adult. so yeah, a supportive figure in my life would have made a world of a difference for me.<p>anyways, i am building an app in my spare time, maybe i'll get it right and that will improve my situation. it's a ridiculous shot in the dark like most business ventures but i can't make 16 an hour living in seattle and expect to survive on that lol, anyways get your kids into a college or university sooner rather than have them figure it out on their own in their 30s.<p>encourage them to pursue what they are good at and encourage them to apply for jobs related to that field sooner rather than later because it's very rare for a tech corporation to give a guy with no tech related job "experience" a job on good faith alone these days.