I never thought I'd end up working in tech. Growing up in a small town in Ohio, my big plan was to be a veterinarian — I volunteered at the local shelter every Saturday for three years. But then my uncle gave me his old ThinkPad and I discovered you could just... make things. Like actual things people use. The first website I built was terrible. Comic Sans, animated GIFs of flames, a hit counter that I'm pretty sure I was the only one incrementing. But something clicked. That feeling of typing gibberish and watching it turn into something real — I was hooked. Dropped pre-vet sophomore year and never looked back, though I still feel guilty when I pass a pet store.