Hi Strandy it's a better choice than the soft board, but several things we all neglected to ask you, what do you weigh and how tall are you this could be an good short board and with real determination you can learn on a short board. Pleas tell what you weigh and things and we can tailor our advice more to your needs.
Have a talk to the guys at the shop if the board has a fair bit of meat ( thickness) then knowing the learning curve of short and long boards make your choice, the only factor at your age is amount of surf time you can put in.