of those were essential to learning how to program code.
I aced every exam given in that class, and I also did all of the extra credit work. I didn’t have to, but I wanted the challenge anyway. I eventually got bored with how slow the class was going, so I skipped several chapters ahead. Once I finished with the entire textbook, I decided to have some fun in the class, because there were still some months left in the semester.
Lifehack #13: Don’t boast. You can trust no one.
The computers with the Windows 95 operating system that my C++ class had were easily hacked. I played pranks on the other students by modifying their Windows splash screen to show random pictures of celebrities. I had written a batch file that would automate the entire process. All I had to do was put in the floppy disk with my hack, and run the autoexec.bat file. The whole hack took less than a few seconds. So when the class started or finished, I’d put the hack in before the students took their seats. Since the teacher had no idea how to change the splash screen back, I was able to infect several computers with my prank before they were all changed back.
The one mistake I had was that I had the stupid idea of attaching my alias to the images. I wanted credit for my work, just like how graffiti artists wrote their name on their work. Eventually, someone recognized my alias and snitched on me to the C.S. teacher.
The teacher confronted me after class was over and said, “Someone told me that you were the one behind this. I don’t care if you did or didn’t do it. Just change it back, and I will not tell the dean about this.”
Later that week, I snuck into the empty computer room during a bathroom break in another class. I changed it all back while making sure that nobody was looking. The teacher kept his promise and never told the dean about it. But I later learned that my prank did not go unpunished.
When you apply to college, you have the option to select one school for an early-decision application. This meant that you promised to attend the school if they accepted you. The idea was that if you were on the borderline of being accepted, the school would accept you if they saw that you were an early-decision applicant. Colleges don’t like their acceptance letters to be rejected, so they prefer early-decision applications.
I applied to an Ivy League school as my early-decision college choice. But, my application was marked incomplete because one of my two recommendation letters was not received by the school. When I asked around, I found out that it was my C.S. teacher’s recommendation letter that was never sent out. I only chose him to write my recommendation, because I was applying to the school as a computer science major. I had other teachers as back-up if he didn’t want to do it. But he promised that he would do it, so I trusted him.
That ultimately screwed me over, because he either forgot to do it, or he was punishing me for the prank I pulled. To this day, I still don’t know why he didn’t mail that recommendation letter in time. Either way, his letter must not have been that great, because when I reapplied as a normal applicant a month later, I was wait-listed. And for every school that didn’t require a recommendation letter, I was accepted.
Perhaps it was for the best that I didn’t end up in that Ivy League school. I saved tens of thousands of dollars in tuition by attending a public school instead of an Ivy League school. Also, by having a less challenging workload at my non-Ivy League school, I was able to do a lot of self-education on the side.
Lifehack #14: Take advantage of free education.
After my C++ class, I wanted to use my newfound skills in the real world. So I found a summer internship that was being offered to just one candidate at a tech company in Manhattan. The company focused on creating Java-based web solutions and IT consulting for different small business and corporate clients. Their
I aced every exam given in that class, and I also did all of the extra credit work. I didn’t have to, but I wanted the challenge anyway. I eventually got bored with how slow the class was going, so I skipped several chapters ahead. Once I finished with the entire textbook, I decided to have some fun in the class, because there were still some months left in the semester.
Lifehack #13: Don’t boast. You can trust no one.
The computers with the Windows 95 operating system that my C++ class had were easily hacked. I played pranks on the other students by modifying their Windows splash screen to show random pictures of celebrities. I had written a batch file that would automate the entire process. All I had to do was put in the floppy disk with my hack, and run the autoexec.bat file. The whole hack took less than a few seconds. So when the class started or finished, I’d put the hack in before the students took their seats. Since the teacher had no idea how to change the splash screen back, I was able to infect several computers with my prank before they were all changed back.
The one mistake I had was that I had the stupid idea of attaching my alias to the images. I wanted credit for my work, just like how graffiti artists wrote their name on their work. Eventually, someone recognized my alias and snitched on me to the C.S. teacher.
The teacher confronted me after class was over and said, “Someone told me that you were the one behind this. I don’t care if you did or didn’t do it. Just change it back, and I will not tell the dean about this.”
Later that week, I snuck into the empty computer room during a bathroom break in another class. I changed it all back while making sure that nobody was looking. The teacher kept his promise and never told the dean about it. But I later learned that my prank did not go unpunished.
When you apply to college, you have the option to select one school for an early-decision application. This meant that you promised to attend the school if they accepted you. The idea was that if you were on the borderline of being accepted, the school would accept you if they saw that you were an early-decision applicant. Colleges don’t like their acceptance letters to be rejected, so they prefer early-decision applications.
I applied to an Ivy League school as my early-decision college choice. But, my application was marked incomplete because one of my two recommendation letters was not received by the school. When I asked around, I found out that it was my C.S. teacher’s recommendation letter that was never sent out. I only chose him to write my recommendation, because I was applying to the school as a computer science major. I had other teachers as back-up if he didn’t want to do it. But he promised that he would do it, so I trusted him.
That ultimately screwed me over, because he either forgot to do it, or he was punishing me for the prank I pulled. To this day, I still don’t know why he didn’t mail that recommendation letter in time. Either way, his letter must not have been that great, because when I reapplied as a normal applicant a month later, I was wait-listed. And for every school that didn’t require a recommendation letter, I was accepted.
Perhaps it was for the best that I didn’t end up in that Ivy League school. I saved tens of thousands of dollars in tuition by attending a public school instead of an Ivy League school. Also, by having a less challenging workload at my non-Ivy League school, I was able to do a lot of self-education on the side.
Lifehack #14: Take advantage of free education.
After my C++ class, I wanted to use my newfound skills in the real world. So I found a summer internship that was being offered to just one candidate at a tech company in Manhattan. The company focused on creating Java-based web solutions and IT consulting for different small business and corporate clients. Their
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