The Site To Go To

My first website

September 2009

Looking back, it’s hard to believe that my entire career in software engineering started in a humble middle school computer applications class. It was 7th grade, and the internet was still a relatively new and exciting frontier for most of us kids. Our teacher gave us a simple assignment: start and maintain a blog.

The Early Days

This was long before the days when Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter became the dominant social forces they are today. Our after-school communication was almost entirely limited to sharing links on AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) and forwarding chain emails. I remember being so thrilled whenever I posted something on my blog that got a few “shares” or “likes” from my classmates. It was my first real experience with the power of the web to connect people and share ideas.

Growing My Interest

That early blog, which I un-creatively named The Site To Go To, was a chaotic mix of random thoughts, quizzes, funny images and videos I found online, and my first attempts at modifying basic HTML.

While the content was goofy and childish (and even got me reprimanded by the school), the experience was instrumental in developing my interest in web design and development. It taught me the fundamentals of online communication and gave me a platform to explore my creativity in a digital medium. Most importantly, it set me on a path that would eventually lead to high school computer fairs, college degrees, and a lifelong passion for building things for the web. Even though the original site is long gone, its influence on my life and career can’t be overstated.