Very interesting background and well written. My own schooling was more straightforward. I went through K-12 normally in (thankfully good) public schools in NJ and then got my BS in computer science at a relatively normal 4 year university. And I have to agree with you that none of that taught or encouraged self motivation. I always felt like I was just going through the motions to finish school and get to the real world.<p>Work after college didn't help either. All of the jobs I've had so far (going on 12 years now) have spoon fed me work to do and only my most recent job has given me any flexibility to be creative and solve problems that are beyond the scraps of work they give me.<p>Getting a taste of building something that I see a need for that wasn't just assigned to me has finally started me towards feeling some motivation to do my own projects on my own time and it feels really good. Over time I hope that I can expand this to my actual job and other parts of my life. I'm just a little sad that its taken me until my mid-30s to get this, so I'm glad to see you've figured it out as early as you have and I hope to help my daughter learn it early on. :)