Hacking. One mention of the word and people think of many things, such as mysterious people getting into your bank accounts, groups like Anonymous, and people with evil intentions. This could not be further from the truth. Hackers are not at all like what most people imagine in their heads. Hackers are many, and they are among us. This is the story inside the mind of one such hacker.

       It was his thirteenth birthday, the soon to be hacker was excited. He did not know it yet but his life was going to change that day. You see, he came from a household where he was not allowed to have a phone or computer due to his father. His mother was nicer, but since they divorced, he had not seen her. She did however, send him a gift for his birthday. He opened it.

       What was the gift you ask? It was a tablet. A Kindle Fire to be exact. Not exactly a high powered PC, but this was the device that sparked his interest in exploitation and development. He was thankful to his mother for providing that which his father has not allowed him to have. He rushed to his room and turned it on. He was happy.

       Note that even though he has not had technology at home, the hacker, we shall call him John, did have an interest in, and was very good with, technology. He has been learning C++ at school in his free time on the schools Windows PC's. He made many text based RPGs, and took pride in them. Anyways, he learned something in that time; If a computer does not work, it was because of something HE, did, not because his father told it not to work, and not because it was drunk, but because HE failed to do it right. He appreciated this about computers, and still does.

       After he set up his tablet, John found this thing called IRC. It was full of people who were into technology just as much as he was. He chatted with them, then after a while, he met one that said he was part of Anonymous, and that he fought for those who could not defend themselves. John had heard of Anonymous, and knew that they were good people, and the two quickly became friends. The Anon he met was the one who introduced him to hacking, and John was a quick learn.

       After learning how to use LOIC to kill a home Internet connection, the Anon asked him a question. He asked what he would use his newfound skills for. John said he would use them to help others, and to seek knowledge. The Anon said that was a good response, and that John was an Anon at the heart. John then went on to DDoSing and doxxing cyber bullies and other bad people, and had a count of 37 doxxed and DDoSed. He was still a novice though, so he started to teach himself more.

       As John taught himself, he grew to realize that he has not even scratched the surface of his skills. He then devoted his time to study, learning things like SQL Injection, XSS, CSRF, Reverse Engineering, and many, many other skills. His Anon friend said he has grown much, and that he was proud of him. As John kept learning more, he got into developing his own hacking tools, and learned many other programming languages. After one and a half years of constant study, John's Anon friend said that he was a better hacker than he ever will be. After that, John spent less and less time hacking bad people, and devoted his efforts to bettering himself entirely.

       John is 16 now, and is very skilled. He still has the Anonymous ideologies, and will never forget them, but Anonymous is not his main concern now. Not he is concerned with getting a job. He knew that he was failing high school due to his studies taking up all his time at school, so he started going after certifications. He started with some small free ones on web development, and got a job as a WordPress admin, and was paid twenty percent of the ad revenue. Sadly, the site fell out of use two months into his job, so his boss shut down the site, leaving him out of a job, a state he is still in at the time of this writing.

       This leads us to the present day. Johns life is stable, and although his father recently took his tablet from him, he still has school PCs and enjoys fishing in his free time. Fishing was a challenge, just like hacking he thought, and he enjoyed it. He is currently working on getting some IT certifications.

       Some of you may be wondering how I know this John so much, and who he really is. I will not deprive you of your answer. You see, the real identity of this John is the same as your dear authors. We are one in the same. This is my story, and I assure you it is a true one. I already have my CompTIA Security+ certificate, as well as five from SoloLearn on web development. Regardless, I must be going, my dear readers. Have a pleasant day, and remember; Anyone you see may have an extraordinary story behind what they are. Goodbye, and do enjoy your life.