This is a submission for the World’s Largest Hackathon Writing Challenge: Beyond the Code.
A month ago, while I was cooking in the kitchen, my boyfriend asked me,
„Do you want to sign up for a Hackathon?„
I was wide-eyed. I’ve never worked in tech. I didn’t know a single line of code.
To be honest, I didn’t even know what a Hackathon was.
Despite my doubts, I didn’t hesitate: „Yes!„
It felt like fate was nudging me forward.
I had always wanted to learn AI. And instead of watching YouTube tutorials or signing up for bootcamps, I thought—why not learn by actually building something?
I used Bolt, a no-code/AI-assisted tool. It was magical and powerful… and sometimes, it drove me absolutely crazy.
It could build full pages from a single prompt—beyond my expectations.
It could also take me an hour just to flip an icon from left to right.
While my boyfriend—who has been in tech for 8 years—effortlessly built cool features, I was still struggling to understand how components even worked.
I remember lying in bed late at night, using the corner of my blanket to wipe away tears, thinking:
„Maybe I’m just not smart enough for this.“
But I didn’t give up. Slowly, things began to shift.
Through active learning, I started to understand basic code.
I learned to debug.
I learned how to prompt Bolt more effectively.
Honestly, working with Bolt also taught me all the dev lingo: favicon, .env files, authentication, API keys… and how to clearly express what I wanted the system to do.
Soon, I could figure out more and more on my own.
✅ Integrated OpenAI voice dictation
✅ Built an AI conversation generator
✅ Added Stripe payment processing
✅ Used Supabase for user data storage
✅ Assembled complete landing pages using components from 21st dev from scratch
✅ Deployed the web app with Netlify
These were all concepts that once felt impossibly distant—
But I figured them out, piece by piece.
💡 And finally: FriendCards was born.
A web app to help you remember the little things about the people you care about:
- Whether it’s someone you just met at a party (so you don’t forget their name and feel awkward next time)
- Someone you’re dating (it’s surprisingly easy to forget who you said what to… I know 😂)
- Or your friends (wait, what is their cat’s name again?)
FriendCards reminds you to check in if it’s been a while, and even helps you draft personalized messages based on each person’s profile.
It’s like Salesforce, but for your social life.
And beyond my expectations — my project was featured by the hackathon organizer, and is currently one of the top 5 most liked on the website! I’m so grateful. 🥹
I want to thank my boyfriend, who saw the potential in me before I could see it myself.
Thank you for being the one person who told me not to give up.
Thank you for being the most encouraging belayer in my first climb into the world of tech.
To anyone out there who’s just starting, pivoting, or doubting yourself:
You don’t need to be perfect to begin. You just need to care enough to try.
If I—someone with zero tech background—can build something from scratch with Bolt,
you can pursue the dream your heart is whispering to you.
Let your curiosity lead you.
And let your heart be part of the build. 💛
With love, from FriendCards