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9/25/2025
8 min read

From Teenager to Web Developer: My Coding Journey

#Career#Web Development#Learning#Growth#Funny
From Teenager to Web Developer: My Coding Journey

How I went from curious teen to building real websites - the fun, the struggles, and everything I learned along the way.

From Teenager to Web Developer: My Coding Journey

🚀 How it all started

Picture this: 15-year-old me and my friend, staying up way too late running our own Minecraft server on Minehut.

But we weren't just playing. We were coding.

My first ever line of code? A Skript command that would literally crash someone's game. Yeah, /crash - it just spammed "fire 1million" on their screen until their game gave up and died. Was it ethical? Probably not. Was it hilarious? Absolutely.

That's how I fell into programming - through Minecraft plugins and Skript, which is basically baby Java but way more fun. While my friends were grinding for diamonds, I was grinding through code trying to figure out why my server kept breaking (usually because of something I coded 5 minutes earlier).

And honestly? Best decision ever.

🎢 The Early Days & The Best School Decision Ever

From Minecraft to... Wait, We're Switching Schools?

So after getting hooked on coding through Skript and basically teaching myself baby Java, I made what would turn out to be one of the best decisions of my life:

I switched from a regular school to a democratic self-learning school.

For those who don't know, this type of school is all about self-directed education. Basically, imagine a school where you actually get to decide what you want to learn, when you want to learn it, and how. No forced classes. No "sit down and shut up." Just... freedom to explore what actually interests you.

And guess what I found there? Friends who actually got me. Friends who wanted to learn coding too.

The "Im a GENIUS" Moments (Spoiler: I Wasn't)

At my new school, surrounded by people who thought coding was cool (not weird), I started diving deeper:

# My ACTUAL first code - the legendary /crash command
command /crash <player>:
  trigger:
    loop 1000000 times:
      show flame at {_player}
    # yea thats practically game over

Being a teen coder at a self-learning school was wild:

  • Age = Trust Issues: "Wait, you're how old?" - every client, ever
  • School vs Code: Actually, at my school, I COULD code during school hours. Game changer.
  • Finding My Tribe: Finally having friends who understood why I was excited about fixing a bug at 2 AM
  • Google University: Learning everything from Stack Overflow and YouTube (with actual time to do it)

The "Holy Crap This Actually Works" Moments ✨

At my new school, I discovered my real passion: web development. And more specifically, frontend.

There's something about making things look good AND work well that just clicked for me. Maybe it was all those years of customizing Minecraft server UIs, who knows.

<!-- The day I discovered CSS animations -->
<div class="bounce">
  <h1>I CAN MAKE THINGS MOVE!</h1>
</div>

<style>
  .bounce {
    animation: bounce 2s infinite;
  }

  @keyframes bounce {
    0%,
    100% {
      transform: translateY(0);
    }
    50% {
      transform: translateY(-20px);
    }
  }
</style>

Going from crashing people's Minecraft games to building actual websites that people could use felt like leveling up in real life.

🛠️ My Tech Evolution

Before (Simple but... questionable)

body {
  height: 400vh; /* Responsive design? Never heard of it */
}
/* My solution to making sure people could see all sections:
   Just make the page REALLY REALLY tall. Genius. */

Yeah... I didn't know about responsive design. Or flexbox. Or literally any proper layout techniques. My first site had height: 400vh on the body because I thought "if I make it tall enough, everything will fit!"

Spoiler: That's not how any of this works.

After (Still Learning, but Better)

// Look mom, I'm using TypeScript now!
interface Developer {
  name: string;
  age: number;
  skills: string[];
  coffeeCupsPerDay: number;
}

const me: Developer = {
  name: "Teenage Dev",
  age: 17, // when I wrote this
  skills: ["React", "Next.js", "TypeScript", "Making bugs"],
  coffeeCupsPerDay: 42,
};

🏗️ Real Projects, Real Lessons

Project #1: Personal SIte

The Brief: "Make us a website"
Reality: I love designing (i was delusional)
What I Learned: Holy cow, web dev is more than just coding

Project #2: Gambling Site BABY!!!!

The Challenge: Learning the math behind the games Plot Twist: Designers have opinions (lots of them)
Win: Learned to love feedback (eventually)

PSA: This was purely a simulation/educational project - I don't condone real gambling!

💡 What I Wish I Knew Earlier

1. It's Okay to Not Know Everything

// Me at 15, writing Minecraft Skript
const knowledge = "I can crash anyone's game! I'm basically a hacker!";

// Me at 16, learning HTML/CSS
const knowledge = "I know everything about HTML!";

// Me now
const knowledge =
  "I know nothing, but I know how to learn (and Google effectively)";

2. Community > Competition

The dev community is actually amazing. From the Minehut forums teaching me Skript, to my friends at school learning alongside me, to random people on Discord helping me debug at 2 AM - community is everything.

3. Clean Code > Clever Code

// Teenage me trying to be clever
const x = a.filter((b) => b.c > 5).map((d) => ({ ...d, e: d.f * 2 }));

// Older, wiser me
const activeUsers = users
  .filter((user) => user.score > 5)
  .map((user) => ({
    ...user,
    bonusPoints: user.basePoints * 2,
  }));

4. Mobile First, Always

Because let's face it - everyone's on their phone.

🎯 Current Status

What I'm Doing rn

  • Freelancing: Most of my projects come from freelance work
  • Employment: Confidential - can't talk about my j*b projects 🤐
  • Portfolio Maintenance: Always tweaking this site (like right now!)
  • Side Projects: Random stuff that sounds cool at 2 AM

Tech Stack Today

{
  "frontend": ["React", "Next.js", "TypeScript", "Tailwind"],
  "backend": ["Node.js"],
  "tools": ["VS Code", "Git", "Figma", "Coffee Machine", "Protien"],
  "deployment": ["Vercel", "Appwrite"],
  "superpower": "Sleep Deprived"
}

🗺️ What's Next?

  • Mobile Apps: React Native is calling
  • AI Integrations: Because it's 2025, why not?
  • Teaching: Helping other teens start their journey
  • Building Something Big: Working on a startup idea (more on this later 👀)

💭 For Fellow Young Devs

Just Start Building

Don't wait until you "know enough." You'll never feel ready.

# The most important command
mkdir my-first-project
cd my-first-project
npm init -y
# And just... start

Find Your People

Join Discord servers, go to meetups (yes, even virtual ones), share your progress online. The community is your superpower.

Embrace the Bugs

// Every developer's reality
try {
  buildAmazingApp();
} catch (error) {
  console.log("Well, that didn't work...");
  // Time to Google for 3 hours
}

🎉 The Real Talk

Starting as a teenage developer - from crashing Minecraft games to building actual websites - was wild, messy, and absolutely worth it.

The journey from:

  • 15-year-old running a Minehut server with my friend
  • Writing my first /crash command (sorry to everyone who tested that)
  • Switching to a self-learning school and finding my coding tribe
  • Discovering web development and falling in love with frontend
  • To actually building projects people use

...has been absolutely insane.

Sure, I made terrible design choices (sorry to everyone who saw my Comic Sans phase). Yes, I wrote code that would make senior devs cry. And yes, I definitely broke a lot of Minecraft servers before I got good. But every mistake taught me something new.

The best part? I'm still learning, still breaking things (hopefully not production anymore), and still loving every minute of it.

If you're a teenager reading this and wondering if you should start coding - just do it. Start with something fun (Minecraft plugins are valid!). Find a school or community that supports your learning. And build stuff. The worst that can happen is you build something cool.

P.S. - Still figuring things out one Stack Overflow search at a time 🤓 (i already got banned twice...)

Advice for Aspiring Young Developers

If you're a teenager interested in coding, here's my actual advice (not the LinkedIn motivational post version):

Start with What's Fun

  • Seriously, code whatever excites you. Minecraft plugins? Game mods? Discord bots? Start there.
  • You'll learn the "proper fundamentals" eventually, but passion > perfect learning path
  • My first code was literally crashing games. Look where that led.
  • Don't wait until you feel "ready" - you'll never feel ready

Build Stupid Stuff (Then Build Real Stuff)

  • Make things that make you laugh. Make things that solve your own problems.
  • That dumb project you think is pointless? Build it anyway. You'll learn more than from 10 tutorials.
  • Then, when you're comfortable, build something people actually need
  • Deploy everything. Broken projects on GitHub > perfect projects in your head

Find Your People

  • Whether it's an alternative school, a Discord server, or a local meetup - find people who get it
  • Learning alone is hard. Learning with friends who are also struggling? Way better.
  • Don't be scared to ask "stupid questions" - everyone was a beginner once
  • The Minecraft/gamedev/web dev communities are surprisingly helpful

Stay Persistent (And Have Fun)

  • You'll write terrible code. We all did. That's literally how you learn.
  • Debugging at 2 AM will happen. It's a rite of passage.
  • Take breaks. Burnout is real, even for fun projects.
  • Remember why you started - because it was fun

Conclusion (But Like, Actually)

From writing Skript commands to crash Minecraft games, to switching to a self-learning school and finding people who actually wanted to learn with me, to discovering my love for frontend development - this journey has been absolutely wild.

Was it a straight path? Hell no. Did I know what I was doing? Absolutely not. Do I still not know what I'm doing half the time? Yeah, but now I'm better at Googling.

The coolest part? Going to a school that let me actually explore what I loved, finding friends who were on the same weird journey, and turning "I wonder how this works" into "I built this thing and it actually works."

If you're a young person thinking about coding:

  • Start with something that makes you excited (even if it's crashing Minecraft games)
  • Find an environment where you can actually learn (alternative education can be life-changing)
  • Build stuff, break stuff, fix stuff, repeat
  • Your age doesn't matter. Your curiosity does.

The future of web development is bright, and honestly? The best time to start was yesterday. The second best time is right now.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some bugs to fix and probably a server to accidentally break.

This is my real journey - from Minehut to frontend dev. Every path is different, every story is unique. This one just happens to involve a lot of crashed Minecraft clients and finding the right learning environment.

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