What I learned from activities related to being a gamer, decades ago: - Built my own computer from parts, and squeezed more performance out of it through overc

What I learned from activities related to being a gamer, decades ago: - Built my own computer from parts, and squeezed more performance out of it through overclocking and tuning mostly everything that could be tuned - Learned about networks, power grids and basic event planning setting up LAN parties - Built a website for my team. Learned to program with PHP and to manipulate images - Made many contacts, many of them software engineers, including the ones that got me my first jobs - Lots of team related administrative tasks like screening and recruiting players for my team, creating strategies and tactics with fault tolerance in case of events such as missing players or reduced network connectivity All this before I turned 18. All these skills and connections turned out to be incredibly valuable later on when I went through financial hardship during college, my former teammates showed up with job offers for programming jobs, which helped to sustain me and my family.