How I Became a Techie: Ignacio Contreras
“Allow some level of randomness or variability in your career.” — Ignacio Contreras
I remember, at 7 or 8 years old, I used to create circuits with this toy DC motor that you could buy at electronic stores. My grandfather, who I lived with, used to give me some money for arcades or comic books, but instead, sometimes I would go to the electronics shop to buy lights, copper cables, batteries, and motors to build a small circuit.
I was always trying to disassemble my toys and see what was inside, and my parents didn’t appreciate the fact that I wanted to tear apart the family TV. When I first got a computer, I probably spent more time coding and building my own programs than playing games.
From early on, I knew that I liked technology. When it came time to choose what I wanted to study in college, I made a list of all the different career paths I could take from different universities in Chile, my home country.
