How it took me three decades to compile my dream.

They say that childhood dreams are fleeting, like the mist that rises over the lakes of Ontario at dawn. But my dream was as solid as the concrete of the University City. Ever since I was in fourth grade, back in the 1960s, my mind projected a recurring film: me, walking under Calder's ‘Clouds’, entering the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) to decipher the language of machines.

^{Calder's ‘Clouds’, Aula Magna of the Central University of Venezuela today, thanks to my niece Gilda, who is currently studying her second year of law.}

Today, from my retirement in Canada, as I enjoy my retirement as a snowbird who decided to stay in the winter nest, I look back and confirm that that dream came true, even though the source code of my life had to be rewritten several times due to system errors beyond my control, heh, heh, heh.

How it took me three decades to compile my dream

I entered the Computer Science programme as my first choice on the OPSU. My 92.7 grade point average was not luck; it was the result of being a true ‘Keener’ (as we call enthusiastic and diligent students here). I was on top of the world. I faced those green and amber phosphor monitors and PCs that devoured 8-inch floppy disks. It was the technology boom, and I was riding high.

“But my biological hardware failed.”

Years passed and technology evolved in my favour. High-resolution colour monitors arrived and, most importantly, blue light optical filters. It was my cue. I decided to ‘Give'r’ (give it my all, try my hardest).

I returned to the classroom, this time to study Systems Engineering. My mathematical background allowed me to validate half of the degree, and two and a half years later, I completed the cycle.

Three decades had passed since that fourth-grade boy became a graduate engineer. But the programme finally ran without errors.

That degree was not just a wall decoration. It allowed me to hold the Chair of Numerical Analysis at the UCV for three years and, later, when life brought me north, it opened the doors of the Trebas University Institute in Canada, where I was part of the research and development staff.

Today, with my citizenship papers in hand and eight years of building community at HIVE, I can tell the students in this community: Dreams don't come true by magic; they come true through stubbornness.

Sometimes you have to change careers to save your eyes. Sometimes you have to graduate alone. Sometimes you have to wait 30 years. But if the code of your purpose is pure, the end result will always be: Mission Accomplished.

Hello everyone in the community, this post is not only my entry for HSCP-WK27 NEW PROMPT: DREAM!, but also serves as my introduction. I would like to take this opportunity to invite @josegilberto, @beaescribe, and @cirange to tell us about their dreams as students.