I had just graduated from HS and turned 18. At the time I had no real inkling of the idea that computers would become such a big part of my life. The bug hadn't bitten yet, so to speak. I'd dabbled with some BASIC programming as a kid, and we played around on the PCs in the library at school. Figuring out how to get out of the CD-ROM library thing and get to a DOS prompt where we could play, was a big deal back then.
But, at least for me, it was a year or two later, in college, when I got hooked on programming. Strangely enough, I don't really even remember exactly how it all started. I just remember starting to buy and read Computer Shopper magazine regularly; and then I was building a PC, getting a modem, playing around on BBS systems, getting into the hack/phreak scene, buying Herbert Schildt's book "Teach Yourself C" and downloading a C compiler from a BBS or something, deciding to major in Computer Science instead of Physics, and the rest is history.
But, at least for me, it was a year or two later, in college, when I got hooked on programming. Strangely enough, I don't really even remember exactly how it all started. I just remember starting to buy and read Computer Shopper magazine regularly; and then I was building a PC, getting a modem, playing around on BBS systems, getting into the hack/phreak scene, buying Herbert Schildt's book "Teach Yourself C" and downloading a C compiler from a BBS or something, deciding to major in Computer Science instead of Physics, and the rest is history.