I believe that as we grow up, life gives us signals about what we should be doing. The key is to pay attention. Sometimes, those signals come later in life. My last fifteen years of teaching were spent in computer science, cybersecurity, and engineering. Looking back, I now see the common thread running through all of them—reverse engineering. Breaking things down into their separate components to fully understand them is a critical skill in all three disciplines. I should have recognized this connection years earlier because, at age seven, I got my first hands-on lesson in it. The realization hit me like a bolt out of the blue during a reverse engineering lesson in my engineering class. Right in the middle of teaching, I stopped and thought—this is what I was meant to do. The die had been cast when I was seven.
My father sometimes needed to get a seven-year-old out of his hair, so he’d send me on silly errands or give me something to do just to keep me occupied. He struck gold when we had an old junker Rambler. One day, he handed me a hammer, a screwdriver, and a pair of pliers and told me I could take apart the car. I’m sure he assumed I wouldn’t be able to do much damage. He was very wrong.
Two weeks later, he found a buyer for the car and brought him over to take a look. When he saw the state of the vehicle, his face was priceless. The dashboard was in the back seat, and various components were scattered all over the front. I had even started taking off the floorboard covers and was heading toward those systems. Given a little more time, I would have made it into the engine compartment. My dad was furious—he ended up getting a lot less for the car because the buyer had to put it all back together.
At the time, I didn’t realize the value of working methodically, keeping track of each step, and understanding how everything fit together. That was the lesson I later tried to impart to my students. Teaching these subjects has been the joy of my career, and I only wish my seven-year-old self had figured it out sooner. If there’s one major gap in modern education, it’s that we don’t always give kids the freedom to discover their passions. By removing hands-on experiences like kindergarten “centers” and vocational programs in high school, we’ve stripped away so many opportunities for exploration.
The school where I currently substitute still gets it right. When I walk down the main hallway, I can smell books from the library, freshly baked goods from consumer studies, sawdust from the woodworking lab, and engine oil and welding fumes from the auto shop at the end of the hall. I also pass by the art rooms along the way.
Play, tinker, explore, and experiment—that’s the advice I give to the high school students I meet. Passion and joy can come from the most unexpected places.
Story edited for clarity by AI – Randy