The start of this article started off very similar to my experiences with programming class, we also used vb6. Going into the course I already had several years of programming various languages including vb6 so I wasn't really learning anything new.

Just like her, I only took the class to make my parents happy and maybe, just maybe get something out of it. I didn't.

Just like her, when I finished my assignments I would go around and help struggling kids with their stuff. I wouldn't ever do their work for them, more like guide them into the right direction, helping them figure it out on their own but with a little nudge from me.

Just like her I was bullied, except I wasn't bullied by other students. I was bullied by our teacher, a female.

The teacher was the only female in our class. I would venture to say she was pretty intelligent. I mean she could write the day's lesson on the board in backwards cursive.

I nearly failed the class because she insisted I was cheating. There was no way I could know what I knew at that age. I had to prove to the principal that I wasn't cheating in order to get an entire semester of zero's reversed.

I'm pretty sure that was about the time I went from wanting to be a professional programmer when I grew up to never taking a paying programming job. Here I am, 30 years old, doing IT support instead of what I really enjoyed doing.