First of all, thank you.
I genuinely did not expect my last post to get the kind of response it did. I thought maybe a few people would read it, nod quietly, and move on. Instead, I opened Dev.to and found encouragement, personal stories, advice, and a surprising amount of kindness from strangers on the internet.
That alone deserves acknowledgment.
If you are curious, this post is a follow up to something I shared earlier about being 38, wanting to learn coding, and not starting yet.
Here is the original post:
https://dev.to/rustypea/i-am-38-i-am-a-nurse-and-i-have-always-wanted-to-learn-coding-2375
So… Did I Start Coding?
Short answer: no.
Longer, more honest answer: not yet, but something did happen.
A lot of people asked if I had started learning, what language I picked, what course I chose, or how my “Day 1” went.
None of that happened.
What did happen is I finally admitted something I had been ignoring for a while.
My laptop was ancient.
About That Laptop
When I say old, I do not mean “a little slow.” I mean it was from 2015 and behaved like it was emotionally exhausted by modern websites.
Opening a browser took commitment.
Opening multiple tabs felt reckless.
And any fan noise sounded like a warning.
Somewhere along the way, my laptop became a very convenient excuse. Not the main excuse. Just a reliable one.
So I did the most productive non productive thing possible.
I bought a new laptop.
That is the update.
No coding montage. No screenshots of a terminal. Just a brand new laptop sitting on my desk, clean, quiet, and full of expectations I did not ask for.
Why This Actually Felt Like Progress
I know how this sounds.
Buying a laptop is not learning to code. It is not even opening a tutorial. It is dangerously close to procrastination disguised as productivity.
But for me, it mattered.
For years, this idea lived only in my head. No tools. No setup. No signal to myself that this was even slightly real. Just a recurring thought I kept postponing.
The new laptop changed that.
It removed one excuse. Not all of them. Just one. But that was enough to make the idea feel less theoretical.
Now, when I think “I could start,” there is an actual device in front of me that says, “You could. Or you could scroll. But at least be honest about which one you are choosing.”
Reading the Comments Did Something to Me
What surprised me most was how many people shared versions of the same story.
People who started later.
People who were scared.
People who waited years before touching their first line of code.
I had been treating my hesitation like a personal flaw. Like I was behind or doing something wrong. Seeing how common this feeling is changed that perspective.
It did not magically make me brave.
But it did make me feel less alone.
Where I Actually Am Right Now
I am still a nurse.
I am still 38.
I still have not written a single line of code.
But now I have:
- a new laptop
- fewer excuses
- and a slightly different relationship with the idea of starting
I am not trying to prove anything. I am not racing anyone. And I am not pretending this is the beginning of some dramatic transformation.
It is just one small, slightly awkward step that felt honest.
Final Thought
If you commented on the last post, please know this.
Your words mattered more than you probably expected. Even without starting yet, something shifted internally. And sometimes that part takes longer than downloading a course or picking a language.
For now, I am sitting here with a new laptop, an open browser, and no big announcements.
Just a quiet acknowledgment that this idea is no longer living entirely in my head.
And honestly, that feels like enough for now.
Top comments (4)
The most important thing that you have dared to take the decision and change i think this is the first and most signfcant step towards achiving your professional goals.I can even tell you what may fuesl your journey ...begin with html it is easy.......seconds and you see your outputs embodied in a webpage that you can amend step by step to reach what you thought out or reach.
This was really honest and relatable.
Buying the laptop may look small, but removing even one excuse is real progress. A lot of people never get that far.
No rush, no pressure — the fact that the idea feels real now actually matters. Wishing you the best whenever you decide to start 🙌
What's important is you are taking it one step at a time.
Baby steps