----- Original Message -----
From: Nicoya Helm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 8:25 AM
Subject: RE: [issues] YAFGA (Yet Another Female Geeks Article)
> There was one passage in this article that really resonated with my
personal
> experience:
>
> So by the time you get to high school, you've gone
> through the last 10 years not getting as much
exposure
> as boys. Even if you haven't lost interest, you feel
> like you are behind. Now would you choose that
field,
> if you really wanted to succeed?
>
> Okay, this is not deeply philosophical, just notes from my life...
[snippage]
> their parents thought it was a great "toy" for them. To make a long story
> short, by the time I graduated college I realized that "it's never too
late
> to become what you've always wanted to be (George Elliot)", so I bought my
> very first computer as a graduation gift to myself. Still, I've spent the
> last couple of years feeling very behind, like I'm making up for a lot of
> lost time. It wasn't till I had the maturity and determination to do it on
> my own that I really was able to pursue computers, but I think if I'd had
> more support along the way, esp. from people close to me like teachers and
> family, then I might have graduated with a BS instead of a BA.
Interesting. That mirrors some of my experience. I didn't *touch* a computer
until I was 25 years old, when I started University (having spent 6 years
being a starving artist[*]). The people I was rooming with got tired of
hearing me pounding away on my old Underwood electric (looks, sounds and
weighs the same as a '68 Buick) at all hours of the night, so they suggested
I learn WordPerfect on their 386.
I bought my first computer in my last year at school. It was a 386sx 20 with
a whole 1 MB of RAM, a 40 MB hard drive and a 12" mono monitor. By the time
I sold it two years later, there wasn't a single original part left in it,
not even the mouse. I'd replaced everything, in order to learn more about
how these thingamajigs worked.
As someone who's had 15 whole minutes of formal instruction in computing,
I'm a firm believer in the ability of anyone to achieve success in any
endeavour. As a white male born of upper middle class parents, it's taken me
longer to learn that not everyone starts from the same point, and not
everyone's efforts are rewarded as quickly and easily as mine were.
I'd be very interested in hearing from others who have come to computing
through alternate channels....
[* In other words, working in restaurants <grin>.]
--
Dan McGarry
http://www.moodindigo.com/
************
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxchix.org
