Durham, NC
I grew up using my family's computers pretty sparingly and mostly to play computer games. Some of my favorite games were Nibbles and Gorillas on QBasic and then later the Sim City series.
I became interested in programming in middle school because I enjoyed problem solving and was very bored. I took a couple of computer science classes in high school and started doing web design, computer maintenance, and other programming to make money. I started programming for Advanced Liquid Logic, a digital microfluidics company in Research Triangle Park, in 2006 and I still work there whenever I am not in school. Around that same time, I started doing web design for the Office of the Provost at Duke and have created and currently maintain a web application and presentation website for Duke's reaffirmation of accreditation, a process that happens every ten years.
I have always primarily used Windows machines and I now work on my Windows laptop but store a lot of data and programs on my Linux server/workstation.
A computer scientist uses computers to solve problems (many of which are caused by computers and computer scientists).
My worst programming experience was a competition I went to in High School. Two of my friends and I had very little idea of what we were doing, so instead of coding we spent most of our time disrupting the competition.
I see myself continuing to use computers as a livelihood, but also as a fun pastime.