When I decided to learn tech, I didn’t start with Python or JavaScript.
I started with HTML.
Before then I had become very interested in how images, colours and texts take shape on the web. The forms they take from the time of request till when it appears on our screens. What is responsible for these dynamics? Why do some texts appear in italics, bold or normal? What is responsible for the difference in colours? How is the spacing between words achieved? Why do some texts appear on the right and others on the left? How is this achieved? How do I get to have options and when I make inputs, I get results? It was these interests that churned on as the days passed that led me to the building block of the web-HTML.
At the time, it didn’t feel like a bold decision especially when I discovered a few days into the study what Ai could now do in that respect. Even a friend of my in the Tech industry whom I had informed of my interest and my decision to learn this skill alluded to this fact. He said it was a waste of time and advised that I focus on other more profitable aspect of Tech. But that did not assuage the thirst and I kept on. And Thank God I did!
But it felt almost underwhelming. I did not understand why. HTML wasn’t glamorous. It didn’t promise automation, intelligence, or complex logic. It was just structure — tags, elements, and files.
And at first, it felt too simple.
Almost boring.
But looking back now, that simplicity was exactly what I needed. It provided the type of ground that formed my very first steps in this journey. The exact type I so much desired.
HTML was the first time tech stopped feeling abstract.
Before then, “the web” was something I used, not something I understood. Pages loaded. Buttons worked. Content appeared. But none of it had a shape in my mind only bewilderment that later gave rise to interest.
HTML changed that.
It showed me that the web isn’t magic — it’s structure.
Headings, paragraphs, links, images.
Files connecting to files.
Content arranged intentionally.
For the first time, I could see how things fit together.
What HTML gave me wasn’t intelligence.
It gave me orientation. A picture; an outline.
I began to understand:
- how content is displayed,
- how a browser reads files,
- how one file can point to another,
- how a simple mistake can break a page — and how fixing it restores order.
These weren’t advanced concepts, but they were grounding.
Instead of feeling lost inside “tech,” I had a map.
More importantly, HTML gave me early wins. I now saw how websites are built. How the texts are formed. How images are rendered.
I typed something.
I saved the file.
I opened it in a browser.
And there it was.
It didn’t matter that it looked ugly.
It didn’t matter that it wasn’t styled.
What mattered was that something I created appeared in front of me.
That moment did more for my confidence than any explanation ever could. And it was fun too to see the “magic” I could now activate!!
HTML didn’t make me feel “smart.”
It made me feel capable.
That difference is subtle, but important.
Feeling smart fades quickly when things get hard.
Feeling capable stays with you when you hit confusion.
I had been somewhat carefree in handling files. HTML taught me that I could:
- follow structure,
- make sense of errors,
- fix what was broken,
- and build something visible from nothing.
At the beginning, that matters more than complexity.
Looking back now, I see that starting with HTML wasn’t about learning a language.
It was about learning how to stand inside tech without fear.
It slowed things down in the right way.
It removed pressure.
It allowed understanding to form without intimidation.
Though I am still learning but that foundation made everything that followed possible.
If you’re starting tech today, HTML is not a waste of time.
It won’t impress anyone just like I did not impress my friend.
It won’t make you feel advanced.
But it will give you something more valuable early on:
A sense that you belong here.
A sense that you can build.
A sense that learning is possible.
And sometimes, that’s the most important foundation of all.
This post is part of my ongoing learning archive.
→ My Tech Learning Journey — One Step at a Time
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