So, Who Are You?

Growing up in the lower-income suburbs of Boston in the late ’80s and early ’90s, I didn’t have much exposure to technology. That changed the day my mom saved up enough money to lease our first family PC from Rent-A-Center. Until then, the only computer I’d encountered was a well-worn Apple II in my elementary school’s lab, where I played a whole lot of Number Munchers.

We also moved around quite often. By sixth grade, I’d already attended five different elementary schools—which (coupled with being the only awkward boy growing up in a house full of women) really hurt my ability to make friends. Instead of going to friends’ houses after school, I gravitated toward spending most of my free time in chat rooms, where strangers didn’t know me—or the baggage I carried. It was these virtual spaces where I finally found a sense of community that fueled my budding interest in technology.