About Me
Many people my age, especially those in computer and engineering fields, don't like to call themselves “geeks.” Coined decades ago as a mild insult, a typical geek now encompasses everything from hardcore tech heads to stringy guys in tight t-shirts. But I'm here to reclaim the term. I'm a geek -- a true knowledge-hording, computer-loving, video game-playing geek -- and I couldn't be more proud.
Born in France to a family of mixed Asian ethnicities, I grew up surrounded by languages: first spoken and then computer. My dad is perhaps my genetic link to geekiness and bought me a Commodore 64 when I was just four years old. At the time, we only had the keyboard/main computer portion that hooked up to the TV. But tragically, due to the newness of computers in general, there were few games to play. So I took on my first programming project before I even started kindergarten; I made a very, very basic game called “Guess My Number” for my 64. Dad kept me updated on the newest phases of technology, and a year later I got my first real computer: the Tandy 1000. The rest, as they say, is history.
I've always been the kind of curious kid who couldn't rest until he'd taken everything apart, found out how it worked and put it all back together again. And with such a keen interest in creating new things, computers became not only a hobby and a passion, but a huge part of my life. Always striving to learn something new, I never grew bored in the computer world. My adolescence was shaped by the technology I had access to and the knowledge I gained. By the time I got to university, my friends were all trying to decide what courses to take and what to do with the rest of their lives, but I already knew. I had always known. I wanted to be a programmer and inventor and finally put my acquired skills to use.
But that's not to say I'm not socially well-adjusted. I have other hobbies: learning to speak new languages, playing guitar and piano, watching independent films and traveling the world. In the end, though, it always comes back to my love for computers.