Financial Aid Helper
Introduction
This is a very simple project that does one thing. Earlier this year, I was applying for financial aid for courses and needed a way to streamline the process. I found a repository that contained answers for the application questions, but I didn’t want to manually edit them for each application. This led me to creating this web app.
The app takes your name, country, course name, skills, and grammar preference as inputs and outputs pre-filled answers to be pasted into the application’s input boxes. It simplifies the process since the questions are standard and haven’t changed in a long time.
Purpose and Goal
The main purpose of this project, like all my side projects, was to make my life a little easier. While applying for financial aid for a course, I realized it took too long to edit the answers manually. So, I took a small part of my day to build a tool that automates this process.
I didn’t overthink the design or functionality—it just needed to work immediately. The process was straightforward, and since my previous applications were always accepted, I figured this approach would be sufficient. Honestly, it felt like no one was reading the applications anyway.
Spotlight
After getting the form and responses working, I decided to add an about section to explain how to use the app, just in case someone other than me stumbled upon it. It’s highly unlikely, but since the internet is open to everyone, I thought it was worth including.
In this about section, I added a carousel component, which I made from scratch. It’s nothing fancy—just functional—but I didn’t expect to build one, so it felt worth mentioning here.
Current Status
Right now, I’m actively using the app for my own purposes. While I could improve form validations or add micro-interactions to make it more polished, it works as intended, so I’m not in a rush to make those changes.
Lessons Learned
This project taught me a lot:
- React Development: It was my first time working with React instead of Next.js, and I found it surprisingly smooth.
- Responsive Layouts: I implemented a responsive layout switch for the first time, and it was easier than I expected.
- Accessibility: Working on this app made me more aware of the multiple states input fields and buttons can have, helping me create a more accessible website than usual.
Conclusion
This project may be small and straightforward, but it solves a specific problem effectively. It has taught me valuable lessons about React, accessibility, and responsive design. While there’s room for improvement, the app works perfectly for its intended purpose, and I’m happy with what it achieves.
Sometimes, the simplest projects can have the biggest impact on making everyday tasks easier, and this is one of those for me.