Phil Choi switched from teaching to senior developer in five years without a CS degree, starting after 30. He built mental-health apps and e-commerce projects, and argues coding is learnable with just a laptop and sustained practice. He offers free JavaScript mentorship on YouTube.
Chapters
Ask yourself, is it too late to get in shape? Because programming is a skill that you can learn in a year if you devote your time, your passion and your energy into it. Why? Because it is a skill you can practice at home. All you need is a laptop and grid. Before programming, this was my routine. Imagine you wake up knowing what's ahead of you. That same subway ride, jam packed with many people to the point where your shoulders are touching theirs. It's hot and your shirt is already sweaty. What awaits me is a day of just existing. In my case, what was waiting for me was English teaching. I remember not wanting to wake up. I remember crying because I didn't want to go to sleep and live the same exact day again. I get through a class and I'm already exhausted. And what awaits me is the same shitty food that I'll be eating alongside the kids that I'll be teaching the next class. Nothing goes your way. Kids are unruly and I hate rebuking them. But it's my job. And. And on my way home, I'm scrolling on TikTok or Instagram and I remember I'm approaching 30 and I've been doing the same shit for five years straight. More power to you if you enjoy English teaching. But I couldn't stay here any longer. I remember I was hungover playing Madden and I remember seeing an advertisement about a coding bootcamp. I had this limiting belief that it was already too late for me to learn a new skill. But what was greater than that was my desire to change my current situation. I hated it. I couldn't see myself teaching ESL as a 40 year old. I was partying and drink and just wasting away. And I remember thinking about my mom's friend, a programmer, driving this sick car. I thought she was so cool. But programming? Can I really do it? And fast forward now I became a senior developer. I've created amazing apps that made an impact on society, such as journaling app for mental health and e commerce app and work with blockchains. And I was able to accomplish that in just five years. I promise you that you have the better start than me. I was a fuck up. What I had though was grit and time. And if you're willing to put in those 10,000 hours into programming, then you can get to where I am at now. I'm not the smartest guy. I bet you had better grades than me in college and high school. I didn't have the ambition or the drive until I started coding. And before that my greatest passion was magically gathering. So how did I do it? I just started writing code starting from the most basic of basic, which I'm doing with my mentoring of a 40 year old dad who started programming with me. If he has grit and if he puts in the time, he too will make it. The skill isn't something you need to go to a specific location to learn, nor does it require any special tools or prerequisite knowledge. So if you hate your current job, your current career, and if you believe in my words where I say AI won't take over our jobs, then check out my YouTube series of my mentorship and follow along with my students journey and learn JavaScript for free because you don't need any experience. Just give it a shot and if you have any questions, comment below in the videos and I'll get back to all of them and help you on your journey. Need to have faith that this skill is just like any other skill. Just like lifting weights, repetition, practice and belief. And don't give up when it gets hard. And trust me, if I can do it, you can do it too. And remember, coding saves lives.
