When we started informatics in the 5th grade, I didn’t have a computer at home.
The night before our first class, I sat with the textbook, reading about how to turn the PC on and off. I was doing it just by reading about it. I tried to memorize the buttons based on the photos in the book. I felt ashamed. Everyone else seemed to already know how it all worked. I didn’t.
Looking back, I’m not sure if it was the shame that pushed me, or something deeper, but that moment defined me. I had already been playing with electronics, and I could visualize how things worked just from images and text. That helped. I caught up fast. Windows felt like a world that opened when I finally touched a real computer.
I was lucky too, my informatics teacher noticed me. He let me stay after class. I learned to navigate, explore, and build confidence in a space that first felt intimidating. That old computer room became a place where I wasn’t behind anymore. Eventually, it became the place where I started winning competitions.
At first, I was almost afraid to touch the machine. Then I realized: it’s just a tool. A powerful one. An extension of my mind. Something I could shape, and shape the world with.
I knew then that one day I’d build my own PC. And when I finally did, that felt like reclaiming something I had once been ashamed of.
