Prepared, Not Panicked: Looking Back at Full Stack Journey

By Ax de Klerk | 10 Nov 2025

When I first decided to retrain as a developer, I had precisely zero experience. None. My closest interaction with “code” was probably the expiry date on a yoghurt pot. But after taking the Code Institute’s five-day coding challenge, something clicked. I loved it. It was like solving puzzles — equal parts frustrating and satisfying — and I found myself actually enjoying the process of making something work. That was the spark.

1. More motivation, less romance: cold, hard numbers.

What led me to the Code Institute’s 5-day challenge was that I had a business idea — something I genuinely believe in — so I did what any sensible adult would do: and got a few quotes to have my MVP built. The quotes came back between £30,000 and £35,000! I remember staring at those emails and thinking, “I can’t afford that!” and “How difficult can it be?” That was the moment I decided to take on the challenge and learn to code myself. Not only to save money (although that was the desired side effect), but to take control of my MVP. I didn’t want to be at the mercy of developers I couldn’t afford.

2. The Reality of Starting From Zero

The first few weeks were like being dropped into a foreign country with no phrasebook. I understood maybe one word in ten. Everyone around me seemed to be “getting it”, while I was still wondering where the semicolon had gone. The course started fast and didn’t slow down, and I quickly realised that learning part-time while working full-time was not for the faint-hearted.

Here’s the thing: preparation matters — and I say that as someone who thought I was prepared. I had my schedule sorted (I live by a timetable tighter than a drum), I’d planned my study blocks around work and my morning dog walks with Barry, and I thought I could just power through. But the truth is, preparation isn’t just about time management — it’s about mental readiness, expectation management, and having the humility to admit that you’ll probably feel lost for a while.

3. What I’d Do Differently

1. Do More Before Day One
If I could go back, I’d spend a month before the course learning the basics — HTML and CSS. I’m not saying I’d try to become an expert, but just getting familiar with syntax and structure would’ve made those first few weeks a lot less intimidating. At the time, I assumed the course would “teach me everything from scratch.” Technically, it did — but in reality, it moves quickly because it has to. Having a bit of groundwork beforehand would’ve been like packing a map before heading into a jungle.

2. Be Realistic About Time
Part-time study sounds manageable until you actually try to do it. Between work, life, and health, your brain only has so much capacity. I’d overestimated how much I could do in a single week and underestimated how long it takes to recover from exhaustion. If I could redo it, I’d build in recovery time — because studying while burnt-out isn’t noble; it’s counter-productive. Coding is like learning a new language and a new way of thinking, all at once. You need clear headspace for that, not just willpower and caffeine.

3. Accept the Chaos Early
There’s a moment, at about two months in, where you realise, you’ll never fully “catch up.” You’re learning Bootstrap one minute, Django the next, and somehow, you’re supposed to understand Git branching before lunch. What I learned was that it’s okay not to understand everything immediately. In fact, it’s expected. I stopped panicking the day I accepted that confusion is part of the process – probably after the course finished to be honest. Once you make peace with that, your learning will become much more enjoyable — even when your code refuses to cooperate.

4. Document Everything
This one’s huge. Early on – when attempting my README for the first time, I thought I’d remember how I fixed something — spoiler: I didn’t. Now I keep detailed notes and debugging logs for everything. It has saved me countless hours for projects 3 and 4. Even better, it’s helped me see my progress. When you’re in the trenches, it’s easy to forget how far you’ve come. Having written proof of all the weird bugs you’ve conquered is a brilliant morale boost.

5. Make It Personal
One of the best decisions I made was working on projects that meant something to me. My 3rd project, Praise the Loud, for example, wasn’t just coursework — it was a way to fuse my love of heavy metal and good old rock ‘n roll with my new coding skills. That connection made the late nights worth it. If you care about what you’re building, it’s far easier to push through the tough bits.

4. Lessons From the Other Side

Looking back now, I can say that the course didn’t just teach me to code — it taught me to think differently. Coding isn’t just syntax; it’s problem-solving, patience, and creativity in disguise. I came into this thinking developers were just typing logic into a machine. I leave it knowing it’s about how you think, not just what you know.

It also changed how I view work entirely. I started to believe I was locked into the 9-to-5 style grind until retirement. Now, I see a thousand different ways to build, freelance, collaborate, and create something of my own. That’s the real power of learning to code: it gives you agency.

I’ve also learned that it’s okay to be a late starter. There’s an assumption that tech is a young person’s game — it isn’t. Experience counts. My years in catering, criminology, and even the call centre have given me soft skills new devs may lack: discipline, communication, and resilience. So yes, I’m older — but I’m also stubborn, detail-oriented, and methodical, and that’s a pretty good combo for coding.

5. Final Reflection

If I were giving advice to anyone about to start a part-time coding course, I’d say this:
- Don’t wait for confidence. You’ll never feel “ready.” Start anyway.
- Expect to be confused. It means you’re learning.
- Take notes. Future you will thank you.
- Build something that excites you. Passion carries you further than perfection.
- Celebrate progress, not perfection. You’ll never feel “done,” and that’s the point.

Preparation isn’t about being perfect — it’s about setting yourself up to adapt when things go sideways. And they will go sideways. But that’s where the growth happens.

Looking back, I realise I didn’t just learn how to code — I learned how to rebuild my life from the ground up. Not bad for a bloke who thought HTML was a sandwich ingredient.