I Began with Dungeons and Dragons and it was Advanced, How I Started Roleplaying

My recent post about playing Traveller reminded me about how I was introduced to role playing. Is a funny story. Well to me at least.You see it started with a detention. I was in the 7th grade and not a model student. I don't remember what the detention was for. It was 1979 so more than thirty years ago. Anyhow I dutifully showed up to the assigned room to serve my time and catch the late bus home. The teacher who assinged me the detention wasn't there so I asked the teacher who was what to do. She told me ot sit and wait out my time. As I sat there bored out of my mind, I noticed 4 kids at the back of the room. They were talking, aurguing and rolling dice. Dice? Are they playing a game? The teacher seemd oblivious to them and me. So after a bit I got up and walked over to them and asked what they were doing. I went through all the newby questions. Were was the board? How do you win? And what's with those weird dice? They laughed and began to explain when one of them said "Its easier just to show him. Let him play". I sat down and rolled up my first character. A 1st ed AD&D half-elven driud. My character joined the party as they entered the dungeon. The first room was home to some giant spiders who attacked. And in the melee my charcter was bitten. Rolling my saving throw vs poison I failed. My character died and so went my very first encounter. But I was hooked. This was nothing like I had ever done before. Because they were teaching me the game they let me play on with the same character. I don't remember what happened next. And I don't know if I played with those guys again. But it was the start of something that has come to mean a lot me.