First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone on Cemetech for being such a great community!
I usually wouldn't send a thank you like this online, but I feel it's warranted for just how much of an impact it has been on my personal life. So I guess I'll start by showing just how much of an impact you guys have been to me.
Back in high school, I got into a magnet school and chose the engineering major (for my own reasons) and I started with that in mind. Since engineering certainly needs math, I was required to start my first year taking AP geometry, which a TI-84 Plus CE was a required article. While the math class was fine on its own, I was quite bored in class (as most do) and since I didn't have a phone, I started to play around with my calculator.
At first, it was just simply coloring the graph screen, but I eventually stumbled on the BASIC programming and started to play around with that. I learned I could create simple programs to help the math things from class, like automating formula calculations and started to have some fun in that.
Continuing on with the next year, I started to figure out that I wasn't really cut out for engineering, where I really struggled with one of my engineering classes, but I still loved making small programs to help me get though AP Calc. Eventually, I was creating a program to help me remember Pascal's Triangle, which I pushed my skills in BASIC to the max, and was quite frustrated at the lack of more ways to show graphics (and more performant programs in general). That's when I started looking online for anything related to that, and eventually landed on Cemetech.
When I got here, I learned not only was there a better way to show and create custom programs, but that there was a large community for calculator programming! Though at that time C was a very scary programming language to me to actually make my own programs, I did take the time to download some cool games and programs to help me out with math and boredom. At this point, also switched from the engineering magnet to the game design magnet, as it seemed to better suit me, where I was able to make programs without the stresses of everything else that came in engineering, like the math and physics which I struggled with to achieve top marks.
There, in my third year, I learned a lot from programming (C# in Unity), modeling (3ds Max), and many other factors in game creation. It was quite fun, but I also had calculators in the back of my head and started experimenting with coding in C. In that time, I also found myself becoming proficient in many of the programming classes, enough to where I was helping out other peers in my classes.
In my last year of high school, the game design magnet was supposed to put us in teams to create a game and release it on Steam. But unfortunately, it was 2020 and it never happened because the sudden change in virtual and in-person students and a lack of planning for the situation stopped that project, but was mostly focused on achieving certs instead. While it was fun, I was disappointing with that. However, at the same time, it gave me more time to explore other personal projects, like making my own games. Since my most recent certified programming language was Java, I started with Processing, which was fine and helpful at first, but I felt I still wanted to do something on the calculator I had.
Since C was the main language, I explored and found C++, or "C with classes", so I figured I could start by learning that by creating a small game project to learn a lot. So I chose a classic game, Snake. Throughout the year, I taught myself C++ though trial-and-error, online content (thank Cherno), and looking at other example on here (plus the docs). By the time I was completing high school, I was almost done with it,with a lot learned along the way.
Once high school was done, I successfully joined a college in fall 2020, aiming for a Comp Sci degree.I was doing my own things and almost completely forgot about the calculator program I was working on. So, the year came and went without much in my progress, but learning a lot in college from my classes.
In fall 2021, there was an English project to write about and describe an online community and to make an active post and ascertain the reactions to that post. I remembered this community and felt I could finally join, and so I did. I finished off my Snake program, now known as Snake++ and made a post about it here. I loved the feedback and was able to land a good grade on the project, all while actually finishing a project. Continuing on, I made some small un-shared projects and mostly unfinished projects due to college being a priority.
Skimming ahead, I had to change my major because for some reason computer science requires an A grade in Calculus and Calc Physics, and I couldn't get to the requirement just enough (got B+ for those courses) and had to switch to cybersecurity. But luckily, I didn't have to take many different courses form the first two years since many were the same. Going later into the college years, I started going into this community a little more in 2023 with some interest in creating and sharing more programs and games here.
But now, in the beginning of 2025, started applying for jobs in software engineering, knowing the competition in the field, and also knowing it was the last semester of college for me. In the last month before graduation, one of my applications went through and I went for a virtual interview. And I am proud to say it went through and I was hired there - before I even graduated! The job is almost a dream for me - software engineering, fully virtual-office with amazing coworkers and boss. I really couldn't ask for more, and now I just graduated. So now I am a full-time worker there without having to worry about college or a lackluster job. But just remember, if it wasn't for the calculator, I wouldn't have had any interest in programming, most likely wouldn't have switched to game design and gone for comp sci/cybersecurity in college.
So I thank this community (and TI) for giving me interest in something that became my (hopefully) career.
But just because I'm now working full time doesn't mean I'll stop making things for the calculator and on the PC. For example, I've been improving Snake++ to have backgrounds, snake skins, new game-modes and (maybe) a story-mode and hope to share it soon. I have some other interesting projects that I'll share later, but I really want to thank everyone for being awesome here and I hope to give back with some great projects of my own!
I usually wouldn't send a thank you like this online, but I feel it's warranted for just how much of an impact it has been on my personal life. So I guess I'll start by showing just how much of an impact you guys have been to me.
Back in high school, I got into a magnet school and chose the engineering major (for my own reasons) and I started with that in mind. Since engineering certainly needs math, I was required to start my first year taking AP geometry, which a TI-84 Plus CE was a required article. While the math class was fine on its own, I was quite bored in class (as most do) and since I didn't have a phone, I started to play around with my calculator.
At first, it was just simply coloring the graph screen, but I eventually stumbled on the BASIC programming and started to play around with that. I learned I could create simple programs to help the math things from class, like automating formula calculations and started to have some fun in that.
Continuing on with the next year, I started to figure out that I wasn't really cut out for engineering, where I really struggled with one of my engineering classes, but I still loved making small programs to help me get though AP Calc. Eventually, I was creating a program to help me remember Pascal's Triangle, which I pushed my skills in BASIC to the max, and was quite frustrated at the lack of more ways to show graphics (and more performant programs in general). That's when I started looking online for anything related to that, and eventually landed on Cemetech.
When I got here, I learned not only was there a better way to show and create custom programs, but that there was a large community for calculator programming! Though at that time C was a very scary programming language to me to actually make my own programs, I did take the time to download some cool games and programs to help me out with math and boredom. At this point, also switched from the engineering magnet to the game design magnet, as it seemed to better suit me, where I was able to make programs without the stresses of everything else that came in engineering, like the math and physics which I struggled with to achieve top marks.
There, in my third year, I learned a lot from programming (C# in Unity), modeling (3ds Max), and many other factors in game creation. It was quite fun, but I also had calculators in the back of my head and started experimenting with coding in C. In that time, I also found myself becoming proficient in many of the programming classes, enough to where I was helping out other peers in my classes.
In my last year of high school, the game design magnet was supposed to put us in teams to create a game and release it on Steam. But unfortunately, it was 2020 and it never happened because the sudden change in virtual and in-person students and a lack of planning for the situation stopped that project, but was mostly focused on achieving certs instead. While it was fun, I was disappointing with that. However, at the same time, it gave me more time to explore other personal projects, like making my own games. Since my most recent certified programming language was Java, I started with Processing, which was fine and helpful at first, but I felt I still wanted to do something on the calculator I had.
Since C was the main language, I explored and found C++, or "C with classes", so I figured I could start by learning that by creating a small game project to learn a lot. So I chose a classic game, Snake. Throughout the year, I taught myself C++ though trial-and-error, online content (thank Cherno), and looking at other example on here (plus the docs). By the time I was completing high school, I was almost done with it,with a lot learned along the way.
Once high school was done, I successfully joined a college in fall 2020, aiming for a Comp Sci degree.I was doing my own things and almost completely forgot about the calculator program I was working on. So, the year came and went without much in my progress, but learning a lot in college from my classes.
In fall 2021, there was an English project to write about and describe an online community and to make an active post and ascertain the reactions to that post. I remembered this community and felt I could finally join, and so I did. I finished off my Snake program, now known as Snake++ and made a post about it here. I loved the feedback and was able to land a good grade on the project, all while actually finishing a project. Continuing on, I made some small un-shared projects and mostly unfinished projects due to college being a priority.
Skimming ahead, I had to change my major because for some reason computer science requires an A grade in Calculus and Calc Physics, and I couldn't get to the requirement just enough (got B+ for those courses) and had to switch to cybersecurity. But luckily, I didn't have to take many different courses form the first two years since many were the same. Going later into the college years, I started going into this community a little more in 2023 with some interest in creating and sharing more programs and games here.
But now, in the beginning of 2025, started applying for jobs in software engineering, knowing the competition in the field, and also knowing it was the last semester of college for me. In the last month before graduation, one of my applications went through and I went for a virtual interview. And I am proud to say it went through and I was hired there - before I even graduated! The job is almost a dream for me - software engineering, fully virtual-office with amazing coworkers and boss. I really couldn't ask for more, and now I just graduated. So now I am a full-time worker there without having to worry about college or a lackluster job. But just remember, if it wasn't for the calculator, I wouldn't have had any interest in programming, most likely wouldn't have switched to game design and gone for comp sci/cybersecurity in college.
So I thank this community (and TI) for giving me interest in something that became my (hopefully) career.
But just because I'm now working full time doesn't mean I'll stop making things for the calculator and on the PC. For example, I've been improving Snake++ to have backgrounds, snake skins, new game-modes and (maybe) a story-mode and hope to share it soon. I have some other interesting projects that I'll share later, but I really want to thank everyone for being awesome here and I hope to give back with some great projects of my own!
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