My education practically stopped in the 4th grade. I left school permanently in the 9th grade.

As a poor kid from Appalachia with no options to learn, having seen the kids around me who didn’t have it, I can’t imagine who I’d be without it.

Sure, I’m still an idiot, but I’ve been able to read books and study history that I would have had no access to whatsoever. I got to discover music and learn to play instruments. I have a decent understanding of technology while the friends that I grew up with struggle to use a phone.

I had an old Macintosh Quadra from a school auction that an older man gave me in 1997 and a wealthy uncle who shared his dialup login with me. The guy that gave me the Quadra also gave me several computers throughout my childhood from the 80s and would take my calls at any hour to walk me through DOS commands and things. I’m so thankful for his influence in my life.

I survived through my 20s by repairing computers. I would have been doomed to starve a thousand times if I didn’t have that skill.

I feel like it has absolutely been a necessity in my life.