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Our last storyteller is Jesse Toth. She is on the platform team at GitHub, and I'm very excited to have her. Ladies and gentlemen, Jesse Toth.
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So, the story I'm going to tell today is about curiosity. I think that as developers, our curiosity is one of our greatest assets. I was a pretty curious kid, as I imagine most of you were too.
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However, I found pretty early on that my eagerness to learn generally outpaced the resources available to me, especially in my small town. By my sophomore year of high school, I had taken all the math and science classes offered, as well as the two somewhat lackluster computer science courses. With nothing left to explore, I sought out independent study courses to keep myself engaged.
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So, I was looking forward to college, believing it would be a place where I could learn about all the things I was curious about and discover new interests. I graduated from high school and went to a state school here in California, majoring in computer science.
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When I got there, I realized that I wouldn't even learn half of the subjects I was curious about during my classes; they simply didn't offer them. For the other half, I would have to wait years due to prerequisites. Meanwhile, I grew bored with the classes and began looking for opportunities outside of the computer science department to explore topics that intrigued me.
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I heard about an honors course the humanities department was offering, which spanned four semesters, starting from the beginning of history through the modern era. It covered history, literature, art, music, philosophy—everything imaginable. I thought, 'This sounds incredible; I want to take this class!' It had a reading list filled with everything I had ever wanted to read.
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I went to talk to an advisor, who shockingly told me, 'You can't take that class; you won’t have enough time. You’re a computer science student, and the department doesn’t recommend this.' But I didn’t listen. My curiosity was piqued, and once that happens, you can’t stop me.
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So, I took the class and thrived; I completed all the work without issue and spent much time in my professor's office discussing the material and exploring new topics. One day, I expressed my frustration that the only place my curiosity was welcomed was outside my department and curriculum. She looked at me and said, 'You don’t belong here. You should apply to be a transfer student and go to Berkeley.'
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I thought, 'I’m not Berkeley material; you must be crazy.' Yet, I trusted her as an advisor, so I applied and was accepted. However, when I arrived, my first semester was terrible; my grades tanked as expected. What surprised me was how uninterested I became in my classes, even though I later found them compelling.
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I was constantly comparing myself to my classmates, many of whom had been programming since they were young. I felt so far behind and believed I didn’t belong there. Nevertheless, I persisted. One semester, I had to fill an open slot with an advanced computer science course. Unsure of what to take, I attended several lectures.
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One of the classes was on compilers, which I initially thought sounded boring. However, during the first lecture, as the professor explained how compilers worked and mentioned we would be building a fully functioning compiler, I realized this was fascinating! I wanted to know exactly how it worked, from Ruby to machine code. I enrolled in the class, and it reignited my passion.
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Despite the class being challenging and time-consuming, I found immense enjoyment in it. The subsequent semesters brought me more captivating classes, and gradually I felt like my normal self again.
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After college, I worked as a Rails consultant, engaging in pair programming, which I loved. This experience allowed me to learn from the diverse projects I encountered and see how different systems were built. Eventually, I found that my curiosity began to fade, as I had learned so much yet craved more.
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I left consulting, tried a few startups, but didn’t find the right fit. Then, I met some people from GitHub, interviewed there, and got hired. Upon starting at GitHub, I hit the ground running. I tackled a significant project, completing it in the first few weeks. It felt just like my experience in the compilers class—challenging yet fulfilling.
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Initially, I was thrilled with my new job, embracing the challenge. But then, something strange occurred. Colleagues began complimenting my work and expressed excitement for what I would do next. This flooded my mind with doubt; I compared myself to seasoned programmers and felt I was falling short.
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I spent a month feeling unhappy, which impacted my performance. It’s a vicious cycle; unhappiness breeds poor coding, leading to more unhappiness. Eventually, I shifted my focus to an ongoing project where I encountered a bug that needed fixing.
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As I delved into the code, understanding its functions and intentions became an obsession, and I became fascinated with solving this issue. One night, the solution struck me at 2 a.m., and I rushed to the computer, coding all night and through the following days. Suddenly, I awoke to find I was feeling like myself again.
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I stopped to reflect on why I had felt low before and what reignited my spark. It dawned on me that my curiosity had been the catalyst for my recovery, and the absence of curiosity had led to my previous unhappiness.
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Fear had taken the place of curiosity; I worried about appearing ignorant and didn’t feel I measured up. But when curiosity returned, I accomplished things I never thought possible. I had become deeply engaged with the problem at hand.
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Looking around at my peers, I came to realize that their successes—like their impressive contributions to open source projects—stemmed from a similar curiosity. Thus, the moral of my story is to stay curious.
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If curiosity isn't present, seek something that ignites your interest. Pursue what piques your curiosity, and I believe you’ll find great happiness as a programmer. Thank you.
