I was born and grew up in WV. As many of you know, it is a poor state. We grew up on powdered milk. Most of my ancestors either went into chemical production (a local term from where I grew up is the "Chemical Valley", although most of that production and associated jobs are gone now) or slipped into the mines to work black gold [1].

We didn't have a lot, and there was no way that we could afford a computer. However, from a young age, I knew that I wanted to get into something called computer programming, as it was called in some books that I had checked out from the library. I was amazed that there was this "machine" that you could give instructions, which would cause it to display graphics and text on a TV, or play sounds from the TV's speaker. So, for as long as I can remember, I have always had an interest in computers.

It seems like only yesterday that I was out cutting lawns in the summer or shoveling snow in the winter so that I could earn enough lumber to buy a Commodore 64 [2], which was a king's ransom for a young lad in the early 80s.

"You want to buy a... computer?", is what I remember my parents saying, in the most puzzling tone, when I indicated my intentions to them.

It was a reasonable response at the time, since most people where I lived didn't know what a computer was. Fortunately, I must have done a good job of explaining just exactly why someone would want to use a computer (much less own one), because my request was granted.

Like all of our travels, this was a family event; all of us loaded up in the car (a timeless 1974 AMC Gremlin [3] — those that remember the car will recall that the maximum setting on the air conditioning dial read, "Desert use only") and drove down to the bank, where I withdrew enough money to purchase the single-most expensive item that I would ever purchase as an adolescent.

I didn't have enough for the Datasette [4] (much less the 1541 [5]), so I would write programs and leave the computer on. I would stay up late, teaching myself to program by reading the Commodore 64 Programmer's Reference Guide [6].

Of course, my computer use quickly started showing up in the monthly power bill, and my dad started checking in with me every night, to make sure that I had turned the computer off. That was of course very difficult, because I had to manually write the programs down so that I could type them in again later. I eventually saved up enough for the Datasette, and finally even a 1541.

The rest is history. I know I'm discussing an "N=1" anecdote, but I've personally found that life is what you make it, no matter where you come from or your background. If you are willing to make it happen, you can make it happen; it's all up to you. On that topic, one of my favorite quotes is by Vince Lombardi [7]:

"A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive, and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done."

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Gremlin

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_Datasette

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_1541

[6] http://www.commodore.ca/manuals/c64_programmers_reference/c6...

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Lombardi

Edit:

Thank you all for your replies.

I am very lucky to have identified, early on, what I like and to have the good fortunate that it became something more in my life.

I agree that there is a mix of luck, desire, work and opportunity-seizing that must come into play, in order to assist in an individual's attempt at making a dream turn into reality.

I stand corrected... "obstacle1" and "jshen" are correct... I've made the mistake of extrapolating a single experience to all cases across the board.

And, as "mkr-hn" pointed out, we don't live in a vacuum... so many factors and people come into play in our lives.