Added a new About section, the writeup for which is in an odt file just for spellchecking. This should be a final release 1.0 of the website.

Author: sydney-s-leigh

.~lock.About Me Writeup.odt#

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+,DESKTOP-TFQQLKO/garlic,DESKTOP-TFQQLKO,31.08.2025 18:55,file:///C:/Users/garlic/AppData/Roaming/LibreOffice/4;

About Me Writeup.odt

@@ -188,6 +188,14 @@ a:hover {
     color: var(--secondary2);
 }
 
+.highlightLink{
+    color: var(--highlight1) !important;
+}
+
+.highlightLink:hover{
+    color: var(--highlight4) !important;
+}
+
 /* https://www.svgrepo.com/collection/social-media-fill-icons/ */
 /* svg {
     height: 32px;

css/style.css

@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ <h2>
                             OR                            
                     </h2><br>             
                     <div class="bookButtonBoxPhone">
-                        <a href="https://calendar.app.google/zFzxM6XoFDGMM4bR9"><input class="bookButton" type="button" value="Book Appointment!"></a>
+                        <a href="https://calendar.app.google/zFzxM6XoFDGMM4bR9" target="_blank"><input class="bookButton" type="button" value="Book Appointment!"></a>
                     </div>
                     <div class="bookButtonBoxPC">
                         <script>
@@ -784,7 +784,47 @@ <h1>CONTACT ME</h1>
             <article id="about" class="article">
                 <h1>ABOUT ME</h1>
                 <div class="contentBox">
-                    <p>Having started programming in C++ at the age of 11, coding hasn't just been a job for me, it's a lifestyle. Whether it's been doing projects in my homelabs over the years, being webmaster for ACM in college, or being a lead developer at a company, sometimes even freelancing to pay the rent, software engineering has been a major part of my life. Between coding, system administration, and even being a security auditor, I've experienced IT from all angles. I like to think of myself as a Jack of all trades, master of none, but in most cases better than a master of one. Given a little time, I can hit the ground running with anything.</p>
+                    <p>The first spark of my lifelong obsession with technology came not in a classroom, but on a
+                        glowing TV screen with Mario and Zelda as my teachers. My earliest memories go back to sitting
+                        in front of the Nintendo Entertainment System at age three, completely mesmerized. A few years
+                        later came the Sega Genesis, and by the time I was seven or eight, I was already exploring our
+                        family's first home computer running MS-DOS. My dad even wrote me a little batch script so all I
+                        had to do was type “go ninja” in the console to launch a game. It felt like magic to me.</p><br>
+
+                    <p>Not long after, Windows 3.1 opened up a whole new world of DOS classics like <em>California
+                            Games</em>, <em>Commander Keen</em>, and <em>King's Quest</em>. Around age ten (this was
+                        1996), I was already tinkering with HTML on Angelfire, building my first websites. Around that
+                        same time, I knew I wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps and work in technology. I'll never
+                        forget getting a Nintendo 64 for Christmas and seeing 3D graphics for the very first time. These
+                        were all major milestones in technological progress.</p><br>
+
+                    <p>By 1998, I was hooked on <em>Starcraft I</em> and <em>Diablo</em>, while also spending summer
+                        nights at camp learning C++ and experimenting with Napster. I would literally watch a pirated
+                        copy of <em>The Matrix</em> while writing programs and learning how to code. In high school, I
+                        built up my own gaming PC, salvaged another from a junkyard to run Red Hat 9 (back when you
+                        could buy it at Best Buy), and even got my hands on a Cobalt RaQ 4 webserver my dad brought
+                        home. At 14, I was already hosting websites from my bedroom, redirecting traffic through our
+                        Linksys router. This was also when I started my journey into Java with the book “Java Black
+                        Book”. I also joined my high school robotics team, writing code for our robot and setting up the
+                        lab's computers and network so my teammates could do CAD and other work.</p><br>
+
+                    <p>Knowing there was a national scholarship program for computer security, I made it my goal to
+                        attend a university with that program. I earned the scholarship and studied at Mississippi State
+                        University, where I completed both my bachelor's and master's degrees in Computer Science.
+                        During those years, I built my first and second PCs from scratch, competed in hacking
+                        competitions, and spent countless hours learning in the Forensics Training Center lab alongside
+                        graduate students. I also became close with the school's network admins, joined our Linux User
+                        Group (BullyLUG), the ACM chapter, and even picked up a HAM radio license thanks to some
+                        friends.</p><br>
+
+                    <p>Outside of academics, I poured an absurd amount of time into gaming, at one point even playing
+                        League of Legends professionally. Over the years, my online life has spanned everything from AOL
+                        and IRC chatrooms to IMVU, Second Life, and now VRChat and Discord. I custom-built my third PC
+                        back when Fortnite was exploding in popularity, and I still use it today. At this point I'm
+                        getting ready to build my fourth generation of PC. I've also spent thousands of hours creating
+                        VRChat avatars in Blender and Unity, giving me hands-on 3D graphics experience.</p><br>
+
+                    <p>Looking back, two of my custom-built machines lasted more than eight years each while running every game at 60fps (a testament to the quality and care I put into building and maintaining them). For me, technology has never been “just a hobby” or “just a job.” It's been a lifelong passion, woven into nearly every stage of my life. If you work with me, you're working with someone who doesn't just do tech for a paycheck. I live and breathe it. So please consider <a href="https://calendar.app.google/zFzxM6XoFDGMM4bR9" target="_blank" class="highlightLink">scheduling a free consultation</a> with me!   </p>                 
                 </div>
             </article>                           
         </main>