Being a H.S. Computer 'Nerd'.....
In Jr H.S. I just 'knew' that I would become a Scientist when I grew up, so I focused my attention on Math and Science Courses, and also had Chemistry as a Home Project. I did experiments that I laughed at when I was told to do them in H.S., I said that I had already done them at home. So, when computers came out, my friends and I did all we could to get to work with them. The Teachers created an After school computer club, and 7 of us were regulars. We mostly worked with a 'Monrobot', it was a computer the size of a large desk, and you would program it with 'punched tape'. That was a pain, after you wrote out the program on a sheet of paper, you then had to type the characters into a machine that would punch holes in a long roll of thick paper. The tape was about two inches wide, and you would wind it onto a spool, and feed it into the computer. In the following years we graduated to 'punch cards' and that was fun! We had these long narrow boxes that the cards would fit into, and we thought that we were the School Brainy Kids 'cause we walked around campus with a box of cards in addition to books. I was ALWAYS eager to open the box and show it to younger kids.
We were excited when we were allowed access to the School District Computer Center at the Administration Building. We had to wear nametags that had metal borders that had some sort of sensors in them that would make it impossible for us to open certain doors, or would set off an alarm if we walked down a wrong hallway. So, we entered through one back door, and stayed in the hallway that directly led to the computer rooms.
Back then, computers were HUGE things that had a lot of dials and lights, and the printers were very loud. I spent a lot of time in there, and was attracted to one printer, it was almost musical. When printing fast it made high pitched buzzing sounds that were at various musical pitches depending on the characters being printed. Over the course of a few months, I would experiment at what notes the printer made when it typed characters. So, I worked hard, on the side, on a special program, and didn't tell anyone what I was doing. I got the program done, and spent a long time at the machine making the punch cards, they almost completely filled a box.
One afternoon they brought in a bunch of Big Shots to view how we 'gifted children' were learning a useful skill. The men and women smiled, seeing us, and asked to see a program run so they could see that we knew what we were doing. The Manager pushed me forward, saying, "This girl is one of the most creative and skilled in programming." They asked to see a program run...so I got out my 'special box'...no one had seen the program, yet. The Big Shots were impressed seeing me load a huge stack of cards into the feeder, and then push buttons, and the cards disappeared into the machine. The Printer came awake, and then began furiously printing sheet after sheet of paper...The characters it printed completely filled the sheets...and the pitch of the printer changed as it played, as it typed...
The Marine Anthem...."From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli..."
The Manager turned the printer off, and told the Big Shots who were hiding smiles..."She CAN do serious stuff, but has a bit of an attitude..."
The Manager told me to inform him whenever I was going to run a program, and NOT to waste time with silly stuff...
...I just nodded...
