One Computer, Years Of Inspiration
When I was in tenth grade in 1980, my high school bought one (1) computer, a TRS-80 Level II. They bought it near the end of the school year, and one particular math teacher (not one of mine that year) was put in charge of it. I heard about it and went to see it. He graciously let me experiment on it after school until he needed to leave for the evening.
The last week of the school year, I decided to ask if I could check out the computer to use at home over the summer. I thought this might be possible because they checked out expensive band equipment all the time. However, I was told no. The supposed reason was that they planned to set up a student gradebook system. (Insert eye-rolls here.) So, instead, [Math Teacher] and I boxed up the computer and placed it in a locked storage closet in the main school building.
I then went to Radio Shack and bought a manual on the TRS-80, as well as coding sheets and video design sheets. I read the manual cover to cover and wrote an extensive program to play tic-tac-toe, all without an actual computer to test out my coding.
The first week that teachers returned before the next school year, I went to school and saw [Math Teacher], who was my Trigonometry teacher for the upcoming school year. We went to see what the status of the computer was. Lo and behold, it was exactly where we’d set it in June. It hadn’t been moved a bit, as evidenced by the dust pattern around its boxes. We set it up in his new room.
Throughout that next school year, I was in [Math Teacher]’s room whenever possible after school. I’d get so involved with programming experiments that he’d just tell me to make sure the door was locked and the lights were off when I left. Sometimes I’d stay until 6:00 pm. He’d even let me program in class when I was supposed to be learning trig. (When I showed him a program that extensively used trig functions, he was satisfied that my studies weren’t falling behind.)
My experience with that computer directed me to get a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Mathematics when I went to college. Computers were my main career focus for the next three decades. All because of a great teacher who trusted me with the school’s sole computer.
