Computers are for Girls

I was only 7 years old when I plugged in my first computer, a Sinclair ZX-81. My parents helped connect it to an old black and white television collecting dust in a spare bedroom.

I had just spent the summer with my aunt and uncle and received a peek into my uncle's favorite hobby. A few minutes in his home office marveling at computer parts and electronic bits and pieces from his local Radio Shack was about to have a lifelong impact, but neither of us knew it yet.

He had sent this little black box home with me along with a handful of old computer magazines. He had moved on to a Commodore 64 system and didn't have a need for it anymore and thought I might enjoy it. I did.

I spent hours copying various BASIC programs out of those old magazines so I could watch the computer work. I didn't have a cassette recorder, the only way to save those programs then, so I just rewrote the programs I wanted to use each day into the computer. Tedious hours of work for a few minutes of fun before my parents would send me off to bed.

After a few months, I had memorized lines of code for multiple programs and started customizing and changing various programs to do different things. Occasionally, my uncle would mail another old magazine out and I would copy those programs too.

Sometimes, my uncle would send his old Commodore 64 magazines and I would have to make changes to the BASIC v2.0 programs to make them work on my Sinclair.

For many years, I enjoyed that Sinclair ZX-81, later a Commodore VIC-20, and lots of conversations with my uncle. When he passed away, I was 12.

My interest in computers faded in my teen years. There were no more magazines and no one else to share that interest with in my family, my school, or local community. I became busy with the other parts of growing up, friends, and sports and stopped spending time writing programs.

It wasn't until my first year in college, and an introduction to an IBM PC/AT that I found my passion again. This time there were floppies and ways to save my work! I've been using computers ever since.

I think of my uncle often, especially when coding. He sparked my curiosity and led me to a path I wouldn't have found without him. He believed that computers were for everyone, even little girls.