Contact lenses soon sorted out any feelings of inferiority in the young Rowling; writing became more a compulsion and less of a hobby in her teenage years. Attending Exeter University, Rowling studied French, something she later found to be a big mistake. Her parents had advised her that bilingualism would lead to a successful career as a secretary. "Unfortunately I am one of the most disorganised people in the world," she related, which obviously posed a significant problem to a budding secretary.
Working at Amnesty International, Rowling discovered one thing to like about life as a secretary: she could use the computer to type up her own stories during quiet times. At age twenty-six, Rowling gave up her office job to teach English in Portugal. It was there that she began yet another story that might become a book, about a boy who is sent off to wizard school. All during the time she spent in Portugal, Rowling took notes on this story and added bits and pieces to the life of her protagonist, Harry Potter. In Portugal she also met the man who became her husband, had a daughter, and got divorced. She does not believe in doing things by half measures.
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