Jesper on learning web development at his own pace

From social work and gardening to learning web development, Jesper Hagerman’s path into tech started with a simple suggestion from a friend: maybe coding could be something for him. He decided to give it a try, despite knowing almost nothing about code at the time. On his first day, he didn’t know what code was or even what HTML meant – but he kept going.

Today, he’s building projects with React and TypeScript and getting ready to take the next step towards a career as a developer. We spoke to Jesper about finding creativity in problem-solving, studying at his own pace, and using AI as a teaching coach rather than a shortcut.

What do you enjoy about coding?

“I mostly like the problem-solving part of it. Digging your teeth into a problem where there are several solutions and going your own way about it. There’s a kind of creativity in building things that I enjoy.”

What drew you to Technigo?

“Before going into this course, I went on two smaller courses. One was a free online course and the other was a short course via university.

They were okay, but I think this was the course where I actually started to think from point A to point B and understand things in a bigger context.

I also had a friend who had taken a course with you before and enjoyed it a lot, and recommended it.”

How has the self-paced format worked for you?

“Since I work half the year full-time and then study full-time during the other half, the self-paced format has worked really well for me.

During the summers, when I work as a gardener, I usually come home, chill for a bit, and then work with Pomodoro timers. I go for about 25 minutes, take a five-minute break, and then maybe do one to four of those.

I try to be kind to myself if I don’t feel like doing it that day. So having a self-paced course was ideal for me when I was doing other things full-time.”

“So having a self-paced course was ideal for me when I was doing other things full-time.”

How have you used AI while learning to code?

“Personally, I’ve used it as a teaching coach.

I think it’s important when you start out coding that you don’t go with agent mode immediately, because then you don’t learn things.

What I did, and what I can recommend to anyone who’s starting with this, is to make a file of prerequisites for the AI itself so that it knows that you’re trying to learn how to code. For example, I don’t need suggestions for the next step unless I explicitly ask it to.

But also, don’t be afraid to try new things and use it, because it’s probably going to be the future.”

What are you especially proud of?

“I’m most proud of my most recent project, which is the one that I’ve worked on the most. Mostly because I’ve put a lot of work into it.

It has also made me understand more things about how coding in general works. For me personally, it has been a lot about TypeScript and React.”

→ Explore Jesper’s project here

What’s next for you?

“Next for me is applying for jobs, mostly junior developer roles in frontend and backend, since I’ve also studied that.”

Who would you recommend the programme to?

“I would say that if you enjoy taking things at your own pace, but you also want the course to be focused on something that is fun and not so serious, I think this is a perfect fit for you.”