“Life can get hard and things can go wrong, but no matter what, you've got to stay strong.”(-Unknown) Not many people have heard of Clarence ‘Skip’ Ellis, but the people that have, have been amazed by his story of perseverance, which caused him to break the social norms in America in the 60’s and 70’s. Clarence, known by his close family and friends as ‘Skip,’ was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1943. He was born into a family filled with poverty being one of five children being raised by a single mother. The streets of the Southside of Chicago were full of gang violence and all out war, but he kept to himself, which helped him survive and avoid that kind of stuff. The gang violence had spread to every part of his life, even at school where he wasn't a ‘cool kid’ because he kept to himself. At the age of 15 years old, Skip had enter a better time in his life when he got his first job was able to be occupied by goods things.
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“He was assigned as a security guard, and specifically told not to touch the company's new computer that was expensive and not commonly seen in 1958.” (World of Computer Science) The job wasn't only protect the company and it building, but he was also protecting their prize possession, a brand new computer. This wasn't the most exciting job ever, but that didn't cause Skip to hate it. He actually loved the job because in his idle times he would read the computer manuals because he wasn't allowed to touch the computer itself. The actions he displayed would seem silly to the average person, but then “ One day, an important computer project had run out of new punch cards, then used to enter data into computers. “ (World of Computer Science) Ellis knew this was his chance and sprung into action. Within reading the manuals and knowledge gain by slowly learning more about computers, Ellis know how to reuse old cards by changing a setting in the computer. The experience became a turning point in Ellis’s life and sparked a passion for computers that would last a lifetime. Going through high school the teachers became mentors to Ellis and recommended that he attend summer camps that were devoted to technology. With him about to graduate, Ellis finally had a break in his life, his family’s pastor had learned of a scholarship and Ellis was awarded it...he could go to college now. Ellis entered university and was hit catastrophically by college as their were classes he didn't understand or want to be in. The classes made him want to give up on colle ge and move on to his life but then he remembered the words of his mom “ be your own person and follow your talents” (World of Computer Science) “After graduation, Ellis worked as a supercomputer researcher at AT&T's Bell Telephone Laboratories.” This was Ellis’s first job coming out of college and it was a intense and was one that was sought after in the technology world. After moving on from working a AT&T Ellis went to work at Xerox Palo Alto Research center. He he developed a amazing concept that is still used in computer programs and it was “[clicking] on graphic icons instead of typing in computer codes.”
“He was assigned as a security guard, and specifically told not to touch the company's new computer that was expensive and not commonly seen in 1958.” (World of Computer Science) The job wasn't only protect the company and it building, but he was also protecting their prize possession, a brand new computer. This wasn't the most exciting job ever, but that didn't cause Skip to hate it. He actually loved the job because in his idle times he would read the computer manuals because he wasn't allowed to touch the computer itself. The actions he displayed would seem silly to the average person, but then “ One day, an important computer project had run out of new punch cards, then used to enter data into computers. “ (World of Computer Science) Ellis knew this was his chance and sprung into action. Within reading the manuals and knowledge gain by slowly learning more about computers, Ellis know how to reuse old cards by changing a setting in the computer. The experience became a turning point in Ellis’s life and sparked a passion for computers that would last a lifetime. Going through high school the teachers became mentors to Ellis and recommended that he attend summer camps that were devoted to technology. With him about to graduate, Ellis finally had a break in his life, his family’s pastor had learned of a scholarship and Ellis was awarded it...he could go to college now. Ellis entered university and was hit catastrophically by college as their were classes he didn't understand or want to be in. The classes made him want to give up on colle ge and move on to his life but then he remembered the words of his mom “ be your own person and follow your talents” (World of Computer Science) “After graduation, Ellis worked as a supercomputer researcher at AT&T's Bell Telephone Laboratories.” This was Ellis’s first job coming out of college and it was a intense and was one that was sought after in the technology world. After moving on from working a AT&T Ellis went to work at Xerox Palo Alto Research center. He he developed a amazing concept that is still used in computer programs and it was “[clicking] on graphic icons instead of typing in computer codes.”