I took my first software programming class as a freshman in high school, and the language they taught me in was BASIC. At the time, even though I liked the class, I tried to get out of it merely because everyone told me that software was the future and that this was what I needed to know. Fortunately, my father overruled me, and I learnt myself some BASIC. I switched high schools (and countries) and also learnt some C++, but this time I learnt of my own volition. However, I still decided that I did not want to make a career out of software and, instead, I went off to university and studied physics.
I can’t tell you how often the two programming courses that I took in high school were useful to me during my time studying physics. Almost all numberical computation in physics is done using computer software. During the years 1999 through 2006, when I was completing my bachelors and trying to complete my masters, computers were not as fast as they are now, nor was computational software so readily available. This meant that most students had to write their own code if they wanted to solve a problem, and that is what I did. I enjoyed it.
After leaving my masters program without finishing it, I realized that the only job I was qualified to do was to teach others physics. I started teaching, first for private organizations and eventually for the American public education system. I was attracted to studying physics because I found the discipline challenging, but there is nothing that I have ever done that was as challenging as teaching American high school students. After two and a half years that were incredibly difficult but also incredibly rewarding, I decided that making a career out of teaching was going to be difficult. I assessed my options and my experiences and software engineering doesn’t seem so bad.