Coursera Unveiled: My Expedition into Boundless Learning Horizons

I turned 40 and decided to learn to code. That sounds like a midlife crisis, and honestly, it might have been one. But instead of buying a sports car, I bought a Coursera subscription. Significantly cheaper, and I think the ROI has been better :D

For context: I've spent 18 years in advertising. I know how to run campaigns, negotiate media buys, and survive client meetings that should have been emails. What I did not know was how to write a for-loop. Coursera changed that, and I want to share what that journey has actually looked like — the good, the frustrating, and the genuinely life-changing parts.

Starting with Cybersecurity (Because Why Not)

Before the coding bug bit me, I got curious about cybersecurity. Working in digital advertising means you're handling client data all the time, and I realized I didn't really understand the security side of things. So I enrolled in the Google Cybersecurity Certificate on Coursera.

I wrote about this in detail in '40-year-old advertising professional completed Google's cybersecurity certificate: Ask Me Why'. The short version: it was harder than I expected, way more interesting than I expected, and it made me paranoid about my own passwords (which, I have to admit, were terrible).

Then Came Python

With some cybersecurity knowledge under my belt, I tackled the Google IT Automation with Python course. This was the one that really changed things for me. I wrote about it in 'Ad-man turns Code-man: My Python Adventure'.

The hands-on labs were where the learning actually happened. Watching videos is fine, but the moment you have to write code that actually runs (or, more often in my case, figure out why it doesn't run), that's when it clicks. I started automating small tasks at work — pulling reports, formatting data, things that used to take me an hour of manual clicking. The first time one of my scripts ran without errors, I may have fist-pumped at my desk. No regrets.

The Self-Paced Thing Is Key

One thing I really appreciate about Coursera is the self-paced model. With a full-time VP job and a daughter, I don't have predictable blocks of free time. Being able to squeeze in a lesson over a weekend or work through a lab in the evening — on my own schedule — made the difference between actually finishing these courses and abandoning them after week two.

Machine Learning with Andrew Ng

Then I found the Machine Learning Specialization by Stanford and DeepLearning.AI, taught by Andrew Ng. This was genuinely one of the best learning experiences I have had online — by the end, I was building ML models with NumPy, scikit-learn, and TensorFlow. I wrote about the full experience in 'Andrew Ng's Coursera Courses: My Dive into Machine Learning'.

Free Courses Through The American Dream Academy

If you're in the US, check out The American Dream Academy (TADA). They offer free access to many popular Coursera courses from Google, Meta, IBM, and others. I wish I'd known about this sooner. Check their FAQ section for details.

Where This All Led

The most tangible outcome of my Coursera journey: I built a chatbot for this blog. From zero coding knowledge to building an actual working thing that people can use. I wrote about that experience here.

I think the biggest lesson from all this is that it's never too late to learn something completely new. I'm not saying it's easy — there were plenty of moments where I stared at error messages and questioned my life choices T.T — but the ability to reinvent yourself at any age is real, and platforms like Coursera make it accessible.

Are you learning something new? I'd love to hear what courses or platforms have worked for you.

Cheers,

Chandler

P.S. The Coursera links above are affiliate links — if you sign up through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. But I'd recommend these courses regardless.