I am a physicist with a masters degree, and I in the process of switching careers to computer science: in fact, I am in the final stages of earning my computer scientist degree.
I became interested in C++ while programming for the Exult project, but I have been programming in one shape or another for the better part of 25 years (most of it as a hobbyist).
More recently, I began making Sonic hacks for the Mega Drive/Sega Genesis and writing some tools for it.