I remember being 12 years old, and my math teacher showing us 'Wargames' in class, and I can say since that day it changed everything for me. Shortly after that, I started following pioneers in the hacker community, such as ESR, RMS, etc. I read the 'How to be a Hacker' by Eric Raymond, and have pretty much held myself to those standards since, after a couple pain-staking years as a skiddie, punting friends off AOL, and all that fun stuff. I call it 'growing pains', looking back now.
. I'm 27 now, finally working full time in IT. Had a couple personal setbacks where I didn't stay current on things for awhile, but my drive is always to learn more than I knew the previous day. I enjoy the community, and where the digital age is going. I've seen age compromises in both directions as to where people gain an interest for something and move forward with it. I don't sit and code / learn for hours upon hours a day, nor do I think that would be too healthy for me. Working full time in IT allows me to appreciate my off time to learn extra-curricular stuff. Finishing up my B.S. in Cyber Security and hoping to move forward in the Security field within the next couple years. It's a marathon, not a sprint for me.