I've been studying various topics in IT for around 10 years (since I was 10-11) with a focus on information security - the other topics were to enhance my knowledge of that, however I have had an interest since I was younger, and actually started learning DOS commands during playtime in elementary school. My original inspiration was the Matrix, then once my brother went off to college, I would watch as he studied and ask questions. He introduced me to an old hacking challenge-site that has since went offline, hackits.de, and that's where I really started learning.My first programming language was Python, however, mainly due to an immaturity-induced desire for superiority, I started learning C and assembly. My largest project in C was a pseudo-object-oriented IRC library which I never really used for anything other than a simple client. However, there was one piece that I could not get going easily (especially since at the time I had a hard time memorizing libraries): a GUI. I decided that the best way for me to get into any sort of graphical interface, I should learn web development.From there, I set up a LAMP server, began learning PHP and hosting my own website, and then, predictably, I started specializing in web-app security (after a friend from Hackits showed me how he could get a shell on my computer) - I had been including a text-based guestbook page and didn't filter the input so he was able to input PHP and have it execute.Now I'm a ZCPE and working as a software developer. I plan to open a penetration testing business one day and achieve my long-time dream; until then I'm continuing on my path to higher knowledge and trying to learn anything and everything I can about security to keep up with the latest trends.