A big point in my computer science education where I felt like I hit a wall was when I first went into the field. Computers have always been an interest for me, how they work and how they execute tasks beyond just the components. I took an intro to programming class in my freshman year of highschool because I wanted to get into it. I had planned to continue with classes and in extracurriculars but some things led to another and I had to drop everything and move to a different state. Now in California I wanted to continue down this path but there were no options for me at this point, no related classes, I didn't even have the opportunity to take AP Computer Science or AP Computer Science Principles like I would have where I used to live. This discouraged me and for the rest of highschool I did nothing with that passion. Once I had to pick my major for college, I had nothing I wanted to do so I decided on computer science. From that point on I realized that in my classes, everyone already had previous experiences. Many of my classmates were already far ahead of me and that put me in a spot where I knew I was the worst student in those classes. They discouraged me as I knew nothing, I couldn't get the hang of things once we moved past the introduction and I still am trying to find my way of learning it. But I hit a wall where I believed I wasn't cut out for it, I wanted to change majors. But I put more effort into it, and instead of letting the fact that everyone was so much better than me bring me down, I used it to decide that I could get to their level if I tried. I stuck with it and studied on my own and I barely passed the class with a B. The next few semesters went the same way. I recognize my ability to code is worse than the average student but i still pushed on and did my best, and though many times things didn't work, or my programs were running slower than everyone elses, I did this with no prior experience. Though many people dropped the classes I stayed though them, I tried to compare myself to my classmates and I try to improve myself to match them. Especially when we worked in groups, I did my best as to not be the weakest link. Or even if I was, I saw things through. It was hard and tiring and despite still not being the best programmer in the room, I was proud to say that I stuck it out, instead of being part of that crowd of people who dropped the classes, I was someone who made it to the end. It helped me realize that maybe software development wouldn't be my path, but instead I realize other passions and interest. even though many of my current and future classes still require coding I'm still pushing through and hoping to make it into Cybersecurity instead. I had no real drive other than the fact that, I could do better, and that I couldn't fail since my friends and family were cheering me on. But that was all I need.