I have never been a good student in my family.  As I aged, I think my problem is trying to stay focused. I may not have a good studying method.  

All through college, I had a couple of notebooks that I was able to use for several semesters and even most of my textbooks were as new as the day i bought them.  I am always puzzled seeing my friends scribble notes all over their textbooks and when I tried doing the same, I could hardly put a couple of words on it. 

One of the issues that I faced in school was writing.  In high school, I had a class in critical reading and writing and I had no idea what I was supposed to write or express what I thought about those chapters or answer those interesting thought-provoking questions.  

But in my case, thought-provoking meant why is the teacher asking a question provoking me to think? I believe part of the reason was having teachers that were not able to “inspire” me to want to do well. All except for one, Brother Anthony, a Catholic priest, who got me wanting to study. Unfortunately for me, the good thing didn’t last. Brother Anthony was awarded a scholarship to Cambridge University to further his studies 8 months into the school year.  I went back to the same old self after he left.  I think in hindsight, a good teacher who can inspire makes a world of difference to some students.

As I “matured”, I began to dream about writing. My writing inhibition was still there, but now I had topics I wanted to write about and had information to put into words.  This itch started in the early days of personal computers, where everyone was trying to use a computer and technology was not as complicated. As every household was getting personal computers, there was a need for a “How-To” document.

I worked in a computer shop and encountered customers struggling to grasp the intricacy of using a computer. It struck me that maybe a “How-to” document will be handy. This idea led me to think about publishing newsletters about personal computers for newbies.  

Well, that was still just a thought back then.  Eventually, that thought turned to wanting to write a book. Big ambition – I know.  Finding a topic for the book is the issue.  Anyway, we can all dream, right?  I make it my lifetime bucket list of things to accomplish.

When I finally was brave enough to pursue my graduate studies in Software Engineering, I thought I would be writing codes and not writing papers or public speaking. My fear of writing and public speaking kept me from pursuing my graduate studies.  So I thought Software Engineering courses would entail lots of coding which I love to do. 

But boy was i wrong!  From day one it was all about writing papers and submitting audio recordings of your presentations. One professor finally hammered that reality in me when he commented, this is a Software Engineering program, not a Computer Science program!  

Ever since I finished my graduate study in Software Engineering, the training helped me overcome my writing and public speaking inhibitions. I may not have retain much of what I learnt, but I have been creating user guides and technical documentations for my workplaces and in a few instances, giving presentations in front of a group of people. Which led me to this thought – Publish Something!