This topic is locked
A few days ago, on January 19, 2014, we hit our 10th anniversary. Ten years ago, Neocodex was born. It's absolutely insane to me to imagine that ten years later, we're still here going strong. When we started, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that Neocodex would evolve into something like this. I just want to thank those who visit this site every day, those who trust us enough to provide their Neopets related services, and, most importantly, those who have been our friends over the years. It means the world to me.
I rarely get into my personal life these days but I thought I'd write down a little piece of my own life experiences that I have Neocodex to thank for. I was in high school when I started Neocodex and back then, I used to play Neopets pretty actively (Ironically enough, soon after starting Neocodex, I stopped playing Neopets
. I didn't have time for it anymore... but that's a topic for another post ). While at school, I had many subjects but the most fun for me at the time was definitely physics. In fact, I was so interested in physics that I had decided I wanted to be a physicist and was getting ready to apply to college as a physics major. I ended up applying as a mechanical engineer to college because an engineer is supposedly easier to employ than a pure physicist (at least that's what my dad said ). During that summer and for the coming years, I worked quite a bit on the infrastructure here and started learning more about programming. I had taken a class on programming while still in high school and really enjoyed it, but it had been nothing more than a hobby at the time. Neocodex gave me a chance to use those programming skills in the real world where I could see the direct results of our work. I had people telling me about their experiences with our programs, requesting features, etc. It was awesome. Because of Neocodex, I ended up taking mostly computer science courses in college so that I could learn more. I loved the subject and put physics on the side for the time being. Eventually, I met with my advisor at college who told me in no uncertain terms that I would not graduate in four years if I continued to neglect mechanical engineering courses. I hadn't taken a single course in the major yet and I was already a year into the program. I ended up switching majors to computer science and continuing my education. I figured that if I was already doing it in my spare time, I might as well learn it really well and do it for a living too. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. I am now employed as a software engineer doing what I love every day. While I sometimes wonder how life would have been had I continued on with mechanical engineering, I know that I wouldn't be where I am today without Neocodex. Neocodex is the reason I chose my profession and without it, I would have missed out on an amazing field that makes me happy and challenges me to my intellectual limits.This post is getting a little longer than I hoped it would be. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Neocodex has been a major influencer in my life and I am so happy to have been a part of it. I know for a fact that others have a similar story to share. If you feel comfortable sharing it, please feel free to do so. But at this time, I just want to say thank you to everyone for a wonderful 10 years. It means more to me than I can say.
/mushy
