Introduction

If someone had asked me during my first year of college whether I would ever lead the technical team of a coding club, I would have laughed and said no. I am an Electrical Engineering student, and when I entered college, coding was not even on my radar. I had no real idea what software development meant, how websites were built, or what developers actually did.

But college has a funny way of changing people. Sometimes all it takes is one small exposure, one event, or one conversation to shift your direction completely. This blog is about how that shift happened for me and how curiosity slowly turned into passion.

First Year: A Student Without Direction in Coding

When I joined college as a first year Electrical Engineering student, my focus was simple. Attend classes, adjust to hostel life, make friends, and understand how college works. Coding felt like something only Computer Science students did. I believed it was too late for me to even think about entering that world.

During our induction program, the college introduced us to different student clubs. There were clubs for robotics, photography, music, literature, and of course, coding. At that time, I did not have any clear interests, so I decided to explore everything. I joined almost every club just to see what each one offered.

One of those clubs was our college coding club, Codebreakers. At that moment, joining it felt like just another item on the list. I did not know it would end up changing my college life.

The Day That Sparked My Curiosity

When I attended my first session with Codebreakers, everything felt new and exciting. Seniors were talking about different domains like web development, app development, open source, UI/UX, and competitive programming.

It was the first time I realized that coding is not just about writing difficult programs. It is about building things. Real things. Websites, apps, tools, and ideas that people actually use.

That session planted a small seed of curiosity in my mind. I returned to my hostel room that day thinking about what I had heard. For the first time, I wanted to try building something myself.

Starting With the Basics: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Luckily, I had a tiny advantage. During my +2, I had learned the basics of HTML. It was very basic knowledge, but it gave me the confidence to start somewhere.

That night, I opened my laptop and decided to build a simple webpage. Nothing fancy. Just text, colors, and a few buttons. But the feeling of creating something that worked in a browser was amazing.

From there, I started learning:

• HTML to structure pages
• CSS to style them
• JavaScript to add interactivity

I began building small projects:

• Personal profile pages
• Simple landing pages
• Small interactive web elements

Every small project made me more curious. I wanted to know how real websites worked. Slowly, my interest in development started growing.

Learning Without Courses

One thing about my journey is that I did not follow traditional learning paths. I did not enroll in paid courses or follow long playlists.

Instead, I focused mainly on documentation. Yes, official documentation. Whenever I picked a new technology, I would go straight to the official website and read the docs. At first, it felt difficult. Documentation can look scary when you are a beginner. But over time, I realized that docs are the most reliable and up to date learning resource.

My learning process became simple:

• Pick a tech stack
• Read the official documentation
• Try building something with it
• Learn by doing

And whenever I got stuck or faced errors, I followed a simple habit. I copied the error and searched for solutions. Often, I would ask ChatGPT to explain the error, understand the problem, and then try to fix the code myself. This helped me understand the logic behind mistakes instead of just copying solutions.

This approach is often called learning by building, and it worked perfectly for me.

Discovering React: A Turning Point

After building several small websites using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, I started hearing a lot about React. Many developers in the club were talking about it, and I kept seeing it mentioned in developer discussions.

So I decided to explore it. Learning React felt like a big step forward. At first, concepts like components, props, and state felt confusing. But once things started making sense, everything clicked.

React changed how I thought about development:

• I understood how modern web apps are structured
• I learned how to break big problems into small components
• I started writing cleaner and reusable code

Working with React gave me confidence. For the first time, I felt like I truly understood the basics of development.

From Member to Leader

As months passed, I kept building projects and staying active in the coding club. I participated in discussions, helped juniors when I could, and kept improving my skills.

Without realizing it, coding had become a major part of my daily routine. What started as curiosity turned into passion.

Eventually, I got the opportunity to lead the technical team of Codebreakers. Becoming the Technical Lead of the college coding club was something I never imagined when I first walked into that induction program.

Along with this, I also became the Campus Mantri of GeeksforGeeks for my college, Government College of Engineering, Kalahandi. This role gave me the chance to connect students with learning resources, organize technical events, and help more students start their journey in tech.

Now, I help:

• Organize technical sessions
• Guide juniors starting their coding journey
• Share resources and learning paths
• Encourage students from non-CS branches to start coding

Because I know exactly how it feels to start from zero.

Lessons From My Journey

• You do not need to be from Computer Science to start coding. I come from Electrical Engineering, and many amazing developers come from non-CS backgrounds.
• Start small. Your first webpage does not need to be perfect. Just start building.
• Documentation is powerful. Learning how to read docs is a superpower for developers.
• Errors are part of learning. Every error is a lesson in disguise.
• Curiosity can change your path. All it takes is one step to discover a new passion.

Where I Am Now

Today, I am still learning, still building, and still exploring. Development is a field where learning never stops. Every new project teaches something new.

And it all started with a single club session during the college induction program.

If you are someone who feels late, confused, or unsure about starting coding, I hope my story gives you confidence. You do not need a perfect beginning. You just need the courage to take the first step.

Final Thoughts

My journey into development was unexpected, unplanned, and completely self driven. From knowing nothing about coding to leading the technical team of a coding club and becoming the Campus Mantri of GeeksforGeeks, the journey has been exciting and full of learning.

And this is just the beginning.