2006 - Getting into Technology
By the end of 2005, I started to think about which high school I would attend. With that came the decision of studying something else along with high school.
Where I used to live at the time, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil, we have several schools to choose from. The most interesting ones are the high schools where you could also get a technical degree at the same time. There were plenty of subjects to study, as many as I could think of at the time.
While discussing with my family, we agreed that it would be very nice for me to attend something related to computers and informatics. Specially given that I liked technology in general at the time.
After all the exams I needed to do, I got approved to study in FAETEC(ETESC). I was very excited for the next year to start, and for me to start studying more about computers and technology.
Unclear expectations
The main idea of this technical degree was to allow students to fully understand how computers and internet worked. That includes creating their own applications and websites.
As most of the students, I didn't quite get exactly what was that about. I could swear the course would be more about using everything that existed at the time, rather than building our own applications.
I had to attend over 6 disciplines at the same time. The subjects were very unexpected. We had all the classic algorithms, databases, programming for desktop, programming for the web classes.
Bad at programming
If you know me nowadays you know that I'm, at a certain level, very good at programming, but I have a past that shows the opposite.
I took a 3 in my first ever programming test. After studying basic programming for over 2 months, that was the best grade I could get from a deadly basic programming test.
Although most of the students where not so far from where I was, I still couldn't believe I failed so miserably. And all my uncertainties about if I took the right course just appeared.
But hold on. Nothing better than a failure to teach something about ourselves.
Unexpected changes
After studying even more, practicing, and asking everyone else for help, I finally understood something very important about myself at a young age.
Different from other students, my primary learning method was not based on practice, visualization, repetition, reading, writing or anything like that. My base learning method has always been a deep understanding of concepts. And the story of how I learned it is even more unexpected.
I was really bad at programming because I would mix all the instructions we could give to a computer. In my mind, I could mix all of them and that was it. I would also try to invent some instructions that didn't exist but in my mind they should.
Understanding programming
Finally, after talking to a colleague of my, she taught exactly what I need.
Renan, she said. You can't mix the instructions like this. Imagine the computer like a young child that knows very little words. You need to give clear directions to the child with minimal language, words, and instructions. It due to avoid ambiguity, otherwise, the computer, or the child, could easily misinterpret what you wanted to say.
In fact, she didn't it say what way, but that was how I understood it.
Wow, I got completely shocked by what she said. And that was exactly the answer I was looking for but no books, no teachers, nor other colleagues could have given me, nor I could find by myself.
Good at programming
Since I deeply understood how computers work, thanks for the observation my colleague gave me, I took only 9s or 10s on all tests related to programming since that day.
And it was very nice to see how very little changes and thinking were able to drastically improve my performance.
Passing for technology
Technology changed from something I was struggling to understand to something I would profoundly love interacting with.
Being able to create amazing applications where I could express my ideas and improve other people's work and life? It was like feeling that I had a superpower.
Wrapping up
That is all folks. The is the story of a young student that came from struggling with technology to loving it.
I hope this text could help something facing the same problems that I did, or anything else.
Regards,
Renan de Azevedo
Updated at 2020/06/26 12:53.