Hi everyone,
I used to be really active here. Especially in 2014 through 2015... But lately I have been busy with a couple development teams I am a part of and some things came up. I made a few promises saying I would help explain how things work here, and I really want to get back into that, but time poses a great constraint. In stead I present you with where I came from, and where I currently am.
As a kid, technology never really interested me. I was a gamer. Admittedly, I put over 3k hours into The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, and I was obsessed with school. Good grades were important, and going into my junior year of high school I still really treasure them. They can take you everywhere. Hobbys are just as important however, and you should always do what you love.
In 2011, I moved to Colorado; a beautiful state. It provided me with a better curriculum than Arkansas had, and people were ready to teach me. The most important of those people to this day was my older brother Jeremiah who I had never talked to until then after 11 years of me living with an abusive father that forever left a mark. I now have general anxiety disorder because of it, and occasionally I will go into long periods of depression, but I have dealt with that with the help of therapy, and my interest in tech as it has given me a clear goal.
My older brother was a Linux user. He ran CrunchBang and the modularity of the platform drew me in. Later that year, I got my first Android device, and had come to realize that it used Linux, and that's where it all began.
The development platform for it was huge, but it wasn't until 2013 that I finally had it rooted after The See The Future program helped me get a laptop. I also had my very own first phone following 2014; the Droid DNA (which I bricked by the way).
So everything was rather stagnant, one and a half years went by. But then something happened. The Linux Foundation was offering free training, and I took the courses they had working my way up to an LFCS certification that I unfortunately never saw.
Christmas of 2015 I got a OnePlus X; a truly development friendly device... And that's where things took off.
I had seen all of these developers arise and they were very experienced. I knew nothing of programming, and still admittedly know very little, but I have an idea of how things work. I started working on my kernels. In August last year I became a core developer of CandyRoms after the team fell to pieces, and then in February this year I was recognized by a Facebook recruiter that wanted to give me a job as a production engineer. I could have been set for life my sophomore year of high school... The offer still sits on the table
So where I am now? I am a member of Paranoid Android. We have members from OnePlus, we have a deal with NextBit, and while I am only a device maintainer right now, I still think that is a lot furhter than most have come at my age.
It's all a puzzle. I have a poor sight, but I have a vision for my future. If people applied themselves, people would be able to do and understand amazing things. No matter what obstacles you face rather you be deaf, blind (like me), faced with some disorder such a autism, or even dementia, continue to apply yourself that much harder every day. Things will look up.
You will fail more than you succeed, and I still have a long way to come, but keep your head up, and hope for a brighter future.