Eight years of night classes, and finally a degree
The bachelor's in computer science that took me the better part of a decade, one after-work class at a time.
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school
25 entries
A day at UMSL, and family
Getting set up for college, becoming a Triton, and an evening at Grandma's. From the old hertzelle.com blog.
Read entry →An associate's degree, for free, while I worked
Two years at the community college, paid for and worked around my first job, with exactly one plan: transfer it all into a real CS degree.
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Battlestar Galactica, and the algebra teacher who got me into it
How a strict, very pregnant college algebra teacher who would not stop talking about her favorite show turned me into a lifelong Battlestar Galactica nerd. The characters I loved, the twists that floored me, and the ending that still gets me.
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The morning I graduated
June 3, 2006. The end of high school, and the strange feeling of already knowing roughly where I was headed.
Read entry →Twelfth grade, and the dumbest robot that ever won
Senior year: a brand-new tech-school teacher who actually pushed us, a Lego robot competition my friend Zach and I won with pure laziness and ingenuity, the FBLA web contest that handed me a career, A+ tutoring with Diana, and the honest truth that I look back on high school and feel proud.
Read entry →Eleventh grade, the year everything sped up
Junior year is when it all accelerated: half days at a tech school learning to be a software developer, my first job, a permit then a license then a beat-up Corsica, Steam and Half-Life 2, World of Warcraft launching, and a soundtrack that made no sense. With DragonSiblings still running the whole time.
Read entry →Tenth grade, the year my life moved onto a message board
Sophomore year ran on the same rails as freshman year, until DragonSiblings was born that October and became the center of everything. The shared school computer that named my company, Stanley going from band-buddy to best friend, a math teacher who would not give me a single point, and a forum where I built, moderated, argued, and wrote.
Read entry →Ninth grade, a bigger world and a clean slate
Starting high school at Holt: the self-guided tour, the seminar teacher I would keep for four years, block scheduling and the locker I never opened, falling hard for keyboarding class, an English teacher who set me up for life, standing up to a teacher who only saw my brother, and putting my head down for the A+ program.
Read entry →Where I was on September 11
Eighth grade started with the morning the world changed. The class that went by knowing nothing, the whispers in the hallway, the heavy CRT television a teacher asked me to hook up, and a cousin who worked near the towers.
Read entry →Eighth grade, and the math teacher who scared me straight
The year a teacher pulled me into the hallway, knelt down, and refused to sugarcoat how badly I was wrecking my own future. Sixth-grade math for the third time, the A+ program, and the moment I decided to turn the whole thing around.
Read entry →Seventh grade, and the soda machine I outsmarted
The year music went digital and middle school stopped feeling new. Retaking sixth-grade math, parting ways with band, a Coca-Cola machine exploit that paid me back in twelve-packs, and finally noticing nobody had taught me how to study.
Read entry →Sixth grade, and the xylophone I never got to play
My first year of middle school, the year everyone lost their minds about Y2K. Band instead of gym, a clarinet I picked by default, a friend named Stanley, and a computer lab full of wasted potential.
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Me and My Life, the whole book I wrote at ten
In fifth grade, Mrs. Rudy's class had us write and illustrate a book about ourselves. Mine is five chapters of family history, a cat named Jupiter, a computer poem, and a closing wish that turned out to be my actual life.
Read entry →Mrs. Rudy, Miss Ruby, and the iMac I couldn't touch
Fifth grade at Wentzville West, a quieter year. Two teachers with nearly the same name, Apple II computers in a room with no business having them, and a brand-new iMac I was forbidden to go near.
Read entry →Fourth grade, and the lie that made me learn computers
My biggest, most loaded school year. A new town, a forbidden half of the building, a best friend named Mike, and the day I raised my hand, claimed I knew computers, and accidentally erased a game in front of everyone.
Read entry →My year in the third grade
A fill-in-the-blank memory book I made at Marvin Elementary in 1997, my last year before we moved. Eight-year-old me had opinions.
Read entry →Mrs. Davis, and the year I should have learned my times tables
Third grade at Marvin Elementary, 1996 to 1997, my last year there. An upstairs classroom that felt like the big leagues, the multiplication tapes I never quite beat, a cello I had to share, and a teacher who poured everything into us.
Read entry →Todd's autobiography, second grade
An extremely short autobiography I wrote in second grade, complete with a self-grading sheet on which I gave myself rave reviews.
Read entry →Second grade, and the gingerbread hall pass
My second grade year at Marvin Elementary, 1995 to 1996, with Mrs. Schnelker. A teacher I had to win over, a hall pass I tried to eat, my mom showing up at the zoo, and the first computer that ever snuck into my life.
Read entry →My first-grade portfolio, 1994 to 1995
The earliest school photos I have: a black panther, the first day in a yellow shirt, and a year of learning my ABCs. With a note from my mom at the end.
Read entry →The teacher I said I'd never forget
My one and only yearbook is from first grade at Marvin Elementary, 1994 to 1995. Mrs. Hogbin and her hug at the door, a math trick called touch points, and a six-year-old's slightly unhinged habit of crossing out everyone he didn't know.
Read entry →Mrs. Patton, and seeing with your heart
My kindergarten teacher at Marvin Elementary, 1993 to 1994. One of my earliest memories of anyone outside my family: her warmth, the toothbrush lesson, the morning stretches, and a line from her I never forgot.
Read entry →He says he would like to work with computers
A kindergarten inventory my mom filled out in 1993, before I started school. At the bottom, in her handwriting, is a sentence that quietly predicted my whole life.
Read entry →Preschool, and a teacher like my grandma
Before kindergarten there was Our Redeemer Lutheran School in Overland, Missouri. A teacher whose kindness I still remember, a blind pastor who taught me something early, and a pair of enormous bear slippers.
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