Pointers were a turning point in triggering my love of learning and improving myself. I remember learning C as a teenager, and all the resources warning me that once it got to pointers it’d get weird and hard.

I was mystified at first, but it was winter break and I decided I’d stick to it until made sense. I don’t remember if it took a few hours or a few days or the whole week, but when it clicked I felt so satisfied, and like I could take on anything from there. It was a really transformative moment.

I remember reading an interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of the notoriously hard Dark Souls series, where he mentions having a similar experience with playing guitar and learning bar chords - and infusing that notion of satisfaction from overcoming big difficulty humps in his games.

It’s a really powerful feeling.