I started coding in Class 7. Then I stopped. Twice.

I wrote my first lines of code in Class 7. I didn’t have a plan. I was just curious, and it felt amazing that typing something could make a computer do what I wanted.

Then life happened. Studies got harder, family responsibilities grew, and coding slowly dropped off my list.

The first restart

COVID-19 sent me back to my village with a lot of free time. One day I saw a post from Jubayer Hossain Bhai of Bongo Academy about his app development course. I signed up.

During that course I built an app called Nari 71. In Class 9 it won a national award, and I was the youngest winner. That was the moment I believed I could actually build things that mattered.

The second stop

Then came SSC. Exams took over, and coding took a back seat again.

This time felt different, though. I wasn’t drifting away. I was pausing, and I knew I’d come back.

The second restart

It took until 2024. I bought my first personal laptop and started learning web development properly. In March 2024 I started Proxima IT. Later I joined KYAU to study CSE.

What I tell students now

A lot of the students I mentor feel guilty for “losing time.” They stopped for exams, for family, for a bad semester, and now they think they’re behind for good.

Here’s what I’ve learned from stopping twice:

• Stopping isn’t quitting. Every time I came back, I still had what I learned before.
• Come back with a reason. The second time I returned, I had a goal: build something people would pay for. That kept me going.
• Build something small and real. Nari 71 taught me more than months of tutorials, because it had to work.

My path hasn’t been straight, and I don’t think it needs to be. If you’ve stopped, you can start again. I did, twice.