Like many young people growing up in this era, I’ve been surrounded by technology for as long as I can remember. My first encounter with a computer happened when my mom started working at a hotel run by my uncle. There were four computers, and every time we visited, I would sit there for hours, exploring. In the early days when Facebook was just becoming popular, I was already discovering new social media sites and creating accounts — even as a child.
One day, I stumbled upon a way to increase the money in a game: opening “Inspect” and manually changing numbers in the HTML code. I had no idea what those strange symbols and words meant, and honestly, I was scared I might break the whole computer. But I still tried — and the happiness I felt when it worked was unforgettable.
Around the age of 6–7, I was already making photo edits, and they’re still in my archive today. Looking back they were simple, but at that age they were challenging — and so much fun. I’ve added a few of them at the end of this post. My friends would ask me to teach them too, and I never refused; I kept searching for new editing apps just to show them something new. Over time, photo edits turned into video edits.
Back then, online tech courses weren’t as common or accessible as they are today, and growing up in a small city meant there weren’t many opportunities. I admired people who worked with technology, but I never really felt like I belonged in that world.
Later, I began to realize I had been living like a programmer all along. I started by thinking about what I wanted from the future and made a list. I wanted to keep learning at every stage of life and to improve myself in every way. Computers and software were like an endless ocean of knowledge.
Even if there’s a chance of getting lost in that ocean, I’m the kind of person who loves exploring several areas rather than sticking to just one. Many people might disagree, but if you plan well and enjoy what you do, you can dive deep and come back safely every time.
That was the second step: I’ve always loved living in a structured way — just like writing code line by line. Whenever I face a problem in daily life, I break it into pieces, consider what I can do, and keep working until it’s solved. That’s exactly what programmers do, only with a machine.
So if you ask me, “Why do you want to be a programmer?”, my answer is: “There is no single reason.” Everything I’ve described is part of it, but there has never been one clear answer.
“If you need a reason to love something or someone, once that reason disappears, the love disappears with it.”
I read that somewhere once. That’s why I don’t want to tie my love for this field to a reason. I simply love it. And whether now or in the future, I see myself here — because that’s how it feels.
