Early years 1978-1984
As a kid, I loved puzzle books, Lego-building and challenges that required deep thinking. I always felt a bit different in this regard, as I never fit in with the other girls on my elementary school playground playing with dolls and other stereotypical girl toys . Teletype Device Then, in 1979 when I was in the 8 th grade, I was intrigued by a new class offered in my Junior High school, “Computer Math”. I couldn’t wait to see what this was about and enthusiastically signed on. I was the only girl in the class. While that felt a bit daunting, the class content immediately pulled me in . We were using an early version of the Basic programming language . There were no electronic displays , just a teletype device . I started writing Basic programs and was hooked. I became so attached to this class that I would come into the classroom early before school started and experiment. I remember typing a command that listed games available in some sort of public library, and was i