Yesterday was my first day of class in over 10 years. Despite the nerves it felt completely natural. I was where I wanted to be. I should define these nerves too, because they aren’t the “What should I wear? Will anyone in class like me?” nerves- they’re the “oh shit I just phased myself out most of my jobs and I have little income and no idea of what’s going to happen in the next few months” kind of nerves. Yet, they aren’t bothering me.

I’m part of the inaugural Code Academy class- 32 students learning how to build web applications over the next three months, and more specifically, learning Ruby on Rails. And there are no nerves because on my first day in class I was pleased (but not surprised) to find a passionate, vibrant and supportive community that may be more excited about the journey ahead of my classmates and me than we are. It’s not unlike the cycling community I’ve grown up in over the last 15 years, which is probably why it feels natural.

As if the enthusiasm, motivation and support of my classmates, the Code Academy leadership, teacher and mentors, and the Chicago tech community weren’t enough to make me feel like I’d made the right decision, on our first day of class the creator of Ruby on Rails even stopped by to talk with us.

This is going to be awesome.