I took a course at a college in '79 using fortran on a mainframe (though I was just in middle school at the time). I can't say I understood all of the incantations required (IBM had JCL), but realized it was "magical" and wanted to be part of this tribe.

I saved up to buy a VIC-20 (a 4K computer) and later a C64, writing games for both. Those were magical days I will look back to fondly. That sparkle has not left, though I sometimes miss the purity of near-bare-metal systems of yesteryear.

Like some in my generation, I lived through and contributed to some of the early phases of computing, pre-internet, and am altogether grateful for it.