I wonder how many STEM professionals' K-12 education has anything at all to do with their career. Zero connection for me, and I went to a flagship Silicon Valley high school and maxed out the math curriculum there. I can't think of anything I learned in K-12 that relates directly to software development & IT.

I did however make a friend at that high school (in English class) whose dad worked at a big tech company and helped me get into the industry. The school's computer programming club was fun too.

Then again I'm almost 40; maybe it's different for younger people.