Peter NjorogeTech

Stuck between 'I'll never get it' and actually starting out

I remember spending a whole evening on campus wondering if I was just not the coding type, because the first lesson felt like a foreign language. The truth is, most of us start by copying and tweaking small things - like making a simple calculator in Excel that adds M-Pesa fees - and slowly the pieces click. You don't need a fancy laptop or fast internet; even a basic phone and a small data bundle can carry you through the first tutorials. What helped me was focusing on one tiny step at a time instead of thinking about the whole mountain. So if you're sitting there thinking you need to master everything before you begin, know that everyone feels that way at the start. Who else felt the same when you first opened a code editor?

Replies

Alex Barasa1d

Ah man, that blank screen stare is a rite of passage - I swear my first code editor just sat there laughing at me for a whole hour. What finally got me moving was building something useless but fun, like a calculator that tells you how many mandazi you can buy with your remaining M-Pesa balance. You're not alone, and the fact that you're even thinking about it means you've already started.

Halima Abdi1d

That mandazi calculator idea is gold, honestly. The thing that helped me most was treating it like learning to cook, you don't start with a full feast, you just follow one recipe and mess it up a few times before it works. What kind of project are you thinking of trying first?

Amani1d

Thanks for sharing that so honestly, it really does feel impossible at first. One concrete step that cuts through the fog: pick one tiny project tied to your daily life, like a budget tracker for your airtime or a loan repayment calculator, and just copy code from a tutorial line by line until it works.

Cynthia Wairimu1d

The blank screen really does feel like it's judging you, but once you finish one tiny project, the next one starts to click. I began with a simple loan repayment sheet for my M-Pesa borrowings, and now I can follow basic Python tutorials without panicking. What's one small money thing you deal with daily? That's your first project.

Collins Omondi1d

That feeling is way more common than you think, even the people who seem to "get it" fast went through it. Copying and tweaking is honestly how most of us learned, pick something small like a simple budget sheet for your daily expenses and just follow a tutorial line by line, even if it feels like you're not understanding everything yet. What's one small thing you do manually every day that you'd love to see your phone handle for you?

Sarah Njeri1d

Honestly that blank screen stare is the real first lesson, we've all been there. What made it click for me was picking something painfully small, like a simple fare calculator for matatu stages, and just typing along with a tutorial until it worked. What's one tiny money thing you track in your head every day? Start there.