Pollorino – My First Completed Project

Back in 2021, I decided to take a deeper dive into web development, and that’s when my love for JavaScript really took off (and yes, I’m still hooked). The syntax just clicked for me, and I quickly realized how versatile it is—not just for web development, but for all sorts of other projects too. JavaScript became the language I spent most of my time coding in, learning, and growing with.

After a lot of practice building simple projects with vanilla JS, HTML, and CSS, I reached a point where I wanted to create something more—something tangible. I wanted a project I could look at and proudly say, “Yes, I built that!” So, my first idea was to create a simple console app in C.

At the time, it felt like a super useful and cool idea. The program would ask, “What day is today?” and after typing in the day, it would display the classes I had scheduled. Then, it would prompt me to select which one I wanted to join by typing in a 2-character class code. For example, in the screenshot above, I selected “Computer Hardware.” But here’s the best part: Using the system("start https://my/class/link") function in C, I was able to open the conference call link in my default browser, which would automatically join the class.

It wasn’t the most complex piece of code, but at the time, it felt like magic. I honestly believe this was the moment I got hooked on programming. There were definitely ways to improve it—like making the program automatically detect the day from the system’s date and time, adding a menu to manage class links (I had to rewrite the whole thing every semester to add and remove links)—but those improvements came with time.

This project came along at the same time I was starting to get comfortable with JavaScript. By then, I had built a few typical beginner projects—things like a notes app, a timer, and a to-do list. But I wanted to make something that combined elements from all those projects, plus some new challenges. After a lot of brainstorming, I came up with an idea for a desktop app called Pollorino.

What started as a simple timer app with a few extra features eventually grew into a full-fledged to-do list, notes app, and event & meeting manager, all rolled into one.

Some screenshots

Even has different themes!

I’m going to fast forward a bit here because I don’t want this blog post to drag on too long. If I went into the development process of Pollorino from start to finish, I’d probably end up writing a small book! But in short, Pollorino taught me a lot—both as a programmer and as a person. Working on it while I was in college helped me grow in ways I didn’t expect. I faced setbacks, pushed through them, faced more setbacks, and kept pushing forward. It helped me develop a kind of tenacity that I still carry with me today.

There were definitely times when working on Pollorino got me down to a point where I wondered if maybe coding just wasn’t for me. But somehow, and with a bit of stubbornness, I always found a way to solve whatever issue I was facing and kept moving forward. Looking back, this project means a lot to me, and it still does. Maybe in future blog posts (or posts), I’ll dive deeper into my experience taking on what was, at the time, a huge solo project.