# From the Start
My name is Alex He. I was born during Autumn / Fall of 1998 in Melbourne, Australia.
## Early Years
* I went to public school and started a year late.
* I was raised by two hard working immigrant parents and was the designated translator for the family - often signing my own school forms, *ssh*.
* My father was strict when it came to education and would teach me mathematics and English after school which helped me get ahead of the class early on. In Year 3, my parents enrolled my brother and I in tuition programs which I can't say I enjoyed at the time. However now looking back I recognise that they bolstered my foundations and probably contribute to my overall confidence when it comes to learning new things.
* I had school for six days a week as my Saturdays would involve reluctantly going to Chinese Language schooling - which most ABCs (a local abbreviation for Australian-born Chinese) were forced to attend. I disliked attending school on a weekend and often treated it as a social outing as there were many like-minded kids.
* My favourite school subject was Integrated Studies. I remember sketching *gadgets* and *inventions* (influenced by [Zac Power](https://www.goodreads.com/series/61701-zac-power-classic) books and the [Back to the Future](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/) trilogy) in IS class. I was convinced that I'd become an inventor and that I would change the world.
* I was an athletic kid and was generally quite good at most [sports](/topics/sports.md), though I sucked at sports like soccer / football that required a high-level of foot coordination.
* Growing up I had a decent amount of Lego at home, most of which was of the [Bionicles](https://www.ebay.com.au/b/LEGO-Bionicle-Complete-Sets-Packs/19006/bn_7013688011?mkevt=1\&mkcid=1\&mkrid=705-53470-19255-0\&campid=5338596835\&customid=\&toolid=10001) line. I played a lot of video games, namely the mainline Pokémon series - emulating the earlier titles (pre-4th gen.) using [VisualBoyAdvance](https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/VisualBoyAdvance) which I would share with the other kids at school as if I were some kind of dealer.
* I also played games like Club Penguin, RuneScape and MapleStory, making anonymous friends online.
* I attribute an early introduction to the concept of supply and demand entirely to RuneScape.
* I recall hiding my Nintendo DS behind music sheets because I was so into Final Fantasy IV, playing it in-between intervals of piano practice - yes, I see now how this was a dumb idea.
* At some point I was introduced to [Pivot Animator](https://www.pivotanimator.net/Download.php) after watching [Xiao Xiao animations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eplAQ3fEr8M) (Zhu Zhiqiang) on YouTube. Using Pivot 2.27, I would create fight scenes and comedy sketches using stick figure assets from the now defunct Droidz website.
## Growing Up
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