How I am Starting from Scratch

My personal diary wasn't doing it for me anymore, so I have decided to bring it on this blog.

Yes, I'm starting from scratch. And no, not in life, just in the tech space.

I've been one of those guys that have always wanted to be in the tech space for the longest. But self-doubt and 'shiny-object' syndrome have kept me in the same place for years.

My story begins in 2023. I was in my second year Actuarial class and I already knew this wasn't gonna do it for me. I had never seen such long mathematical equations in my life before. For one unit, meh, OK…but six, seven, sometimes eight units each having their own extra long formulas? I don't know, at the time it just seemed a lot.

Taking actuarial, considering to drop
by r/malaysiauni on Reddit ↗

Spoiler: I actually finished the course, but that's a story for another day.

In 2023, I was earning from freelance writing, so as every 'responsible' man would do, I started thinking of ways to diversify my income. That was of course after putting aside for 'sherehe' with the boys every Friday.

I bought this course: The Ultimate HTML5 and CSS3 Series from Code with Mosh.

First day, bought a new book, and a pen, and a highlighter and started learning. 4 days in and HTML was down, I was killing it and thought I'd be the next Linus Torvalds or something like that in the next few years. But on day 5, I visited this friend who was learning some cyber security stuff and I was bragging how I can now make a website, he laughed and said there's no website I was going to make with HTML. He was right, he said it as a joke, but I took it too seriously.

The next few days, I tried to focus on CSS but couldn't bring myself to it. I needed a bigger challenge. So, I started digging for more information. Trying to find a reason to jump ship to something more challenging.

So, I researched and came across Juma Allan. One of the guys that is killing it in the Android Development space. I read everything about the guy, how he started, where he was at the time, I even came across his tweet where he talked about his salary and it was six figures, so now, I felt like I had found my calling.

View Juma Allan's post on X ↗

Wouldn't you want this, mahn?

So, the next day, I went and bought myself a new book and pen. Fired up my laptop and straight up went to the Kotlin website and started on a random beginner course I found there. With Kotlin, I just knew this wasn't going to work. The syntax was already heavy from day one. And when it came to downloading the emulator, my 8GB RAM laptop couldn't handle it (almost blew up my desk istg), so after 3-5 days of contemplating whether to push through or not, I eventually quit, with the excuse that there are too many apps already.

But I still had this mad desire of becoming a tech guy. So I kept looking for other areas I could immerse myself into. And a friend (who is the reason I am writing this post) put me on data science.

He talked highly of the skill. Adjacent to our course, Actuarial Science, makes you even more valuable, just need to know Python, carry over statistics, and touch on some MLOps and you are good to go. So, I gave it a shot. So, once again, bought a new book, and pen, and started my journey to becoming a data scientist.

I tried honestly. I installed Anaconda, ran my Jupyter Notebooks, did some Python but I found it boring. I guess just because that entire Jupyter notebook is ugly in my opinion. Plus, at the time, I hated anything to do with the math, so I just quit altogether.

I can't recall when exactly I also decided to touch on Blockchain Engineering and started learning some Solidity but that too faded quickly. On this, I probably made a good decision not to pursue it.

Fast forward to 2024, around June, I had a well-paying writing job. So, I decided to give the tech space one last shot. I bought a course from Darshil Parmar, a super cool guy teaching Data Engineering. I decided not to go for attachment and lock in on Data Engineering as my friends were going for attachment. The plan was to get good at the skill so that when I finish my fourth year, I already have a data engineer job.

I learnt a ton of Python during those four months, from writing functions, to pandas and numpy, to pulling APIs, and much more. It finally felt like this was what I needed.

Then school reopened, now in fourth year, and I had some retakes and couldn't afford more, literally, I had to abandon data engineering for a while to focus on school. And the consistency and love for it just faded. I also lost my writing job around that time, so I had to figure out how to bring money into my pocket first.

So, with the panic I started learning about copywriting. Built a simple portfolio with Notion and started applying for jobs. I eventually secured one, which I am currently doing. But again, all these occurrences just drove me further from my tech dream.

Now in 2025, when school is over for the guys with no retakes, I bid most of my friends goodbye who I haven't seen again till date. I went home to pick up from where I left and found datawithbaraa, the guy is a teacher and a half. Two and a half months, and I could solve almost all SQL questions on DataLemur. Then I moved on to Python, then PySpark, then Databricks, touched on AWS and Azure. But I made one grave mistake, I NEVER applied for any job because I never felt ready.

At the start of 2026, I told myself I was to start applying for data positions. But I kept postponing and while I was postponing, my skills were fading. A few months in, I realized even the easy SQL questions I could solve took me hours. But with AI, I know the time you take solving a question doesn't matter anymore. For me, I had lost even the thinking of complex solutions to problems and had to rely on AI.

A friend joined a data bootcamp sometime in May this year (2026) and started applying for jobs as early as June. Last month (September) he secured a data analyst internship at Coca-Cola. You know Coca-Cola is a big deal, especially when it comes to the massive amount of data you'll be exposed to.

And it got me thinking…

That sometimes, you should NEVER MISS A DAY. BECAUSE SOMETIMES YOU GET LUCKY. AND YOU CAN NEVER MISS A LUCKY DAY IF YOU TRY EVERYDAY.

Famous words by the most googled man on the planet. But it fits perfectly in this situation.

If I applied for jobs, maybe I could have met my lucky day.

So here I am. Same laptop — still 8GB RAM, nah, I'm lying, I got a Mac M2 by the way. Oh, and a new book, a new pen, and a fresh copy of Python installed like nothing ever happened.

I won't lie to you and say this time is different. Data engineering might be the thing, or in three weeks I might be telling you about blockchain, or cloud (also touched on this BTW 🤣), or whatever the internet decides is hot next. I honestly don't know yet. The shiny-object syndrome is still sitting somewhere in this head of mine, probably charging its battery.

But here's what I do know. That every abandoned book and pen taught me something. I know HTML. I know Kotlin didn't want me. I know six-figure tweets make terrible career advisors. And I know that the only version of this story that has a happy ending is the one where I stop waiting to feel ready and just write it down as it happens, even the embarrassing parts. Especially the embarrassing parts.

This is day one. Again. Let's see how long this one lasts.

See you on the next post. Adios.