You don't begin to know possibly how much pointers you use already.
If you use arrays, the name of the array is a pointer.
x[12] is the same thing as x+12. Pointers let us do address math even when we might not know it. Pointers are power tools that beginners should learn when ready to not be beginners any more.
Can you do without them? Sure. But you may type a lot more code!
There are even pointers to functions. A value in a variable can determine what function is used in a line of code. A table of those can make a base for an interpreter without huge code.
Pointers are Under The Hood stuff that the language you use depends on.