New Year, New Projects – A Busy End to 2025
New Year, New Projects – A Busy End to 2025
January 7, 2026
Happy New Year! 🎉
It's been over two months since my last blog post, and a lot has happened. Between the holidays, job hunting, and building projects for potential internships, I've been busier than ever.
Let me catch you up on what I've been working on since November.
🎄 The Holiday Season & Job Search Reality#
First things first: God jul og godt nyttår! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.
For me, the end of 2025 was intense. While everyone else was winding down for Christmas, I was ramping up my job search and building projects to showcase my skills.
The Internship Hunt#
Since November, my main focus has been finding an internship or entry-level position. I've been:
- Applying to companies across Norway
- Building projects to demonstrate my skills
- Networking at tech events
- Refining my portfolio and resume
The job market is tough right now, especially for junior developers. But I'm staying optimistic and using this time to build real, production-ready applications that solve actual problems.
🚀 Four New Projects#
Instead of just applying with my existing portfolio, I decided to build new projects that showcase different skills and technologies. Here's what I've been working on:
1. 🎅 Julerulett (Christmas Roulette)#
A festive gift roulette application for Christmas! Spin the wheel and let the excitement decide who gets to open the next present.
Tech Stack: Next.js 16, React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS 4, Framer Motion
Key Features:
- Smooth spinning animation with realistic deceleration
- Nordic Christmas design with warm color palette
- Snowflake animations and confetti effects
- Smart game logic (no duplicate winners per round)
- Persistent state with localStorage
- Fully responsive and accessible
Why I Built This:
Christmas was coming up, and I wanted to create something fun and festive. This project let me explore Framer Motion for complex animations and work with audio synchronization.
The challenge was making the wheel feel realistic — not just spinning at a constant speed, but decelerating naturally like a real roulette wheel. I spent hours tweaking the easing functions to get it just right.
2. ⚔️ Pokédex Battle System#
A modern Pokémon battle application with complete Pokédex, strategic turn-based combat, team building, and achievements.
Tech Stack: Next.js 16, React 19, TypeScript, MongoDB, Clerk, Tailwind CSS, Zod
Key Features:
- Complete Pokédex with 1025+ Pokémon
- Strategic turn-based battle system
- Team builder with multiple teams
- Achievement system with rewards
- Player statistics and progression
- Advanced filtering and search
- Dark/light theme support
Why I Built This:
This was my most ambitious project yet. I wanted to demonstrate my ability to build a complex, full-stack application with game mechanics, user progression, and data management.
The battle system was particularly challenging. I had to implement type effectiveness calculations, damage formulas, AI decision-making, and ensure everything was balanced and fair.
3. 💰 moboPOS (Point of Sale System)#
A complete web-based POS solution with product management, sales tracking, AI-inspired pricing, and offline support.
Tech Stack: Next.js 16, React 19, TypeScript, MongoDB, Tailwind CSS, Zod
Key Features:
- Complete checkout system with multiple payment methods
- Product management with margin calculations
- Sales history with statistics and CSV export
- Return processing with reason tracking
- AI-inspired dynamic pricing simulator
- Two-layer architecture (MongoDB + localStorage)
- WCAG AA accessibility compliance
Why I Built This:
I wanted to understand how real business systems work. POS systems are complex — they need to handle transactions, inventory, reporting, and work reliably even when offline.
This project taught me about business logic, data validation, offline-first architecture, and building for real-world use cases.
The pricing simulator was particularly fun to build. It uses market conditions (demand, time of day, stock levels) to suggest optimal prices while ensuring minimum profit margins.
4. 📅 Schedulo (Booking Platform)#
A comprehensive multi-tenant booking and resource management platform for service-based businesses.
Tech Stack: Laravel 12, PHP 8.3, MySQL, Tailwind CSS, Alpine.js, Vite
Key Features:
- Multi-tenant architecture with complete data isolation
- Resource management (rooms, staff, equipment)
- Real-time booking with conflict prevention
- Subscription plans with feature gating
- Secure authentication with role-based permissions
- Responsive mobile-first design
Why I Built This:
This was my first major Laravel project, and I wanted to challenge myself with a different tech stack. Building a multi-tenant SaaS application taught me about:
- Database design for multi-tenancy
- Subscription and billing logic
- Real-time availability systems
- Security best practices for SaaS
Note: This project is still in active development. A live demo isn't available yet, but the codebase demonstrates full-stack Laravel development with modern best practices.
🎯 The Internship Project#
In addition to these portfolio projects, I've been working on a larger project for a company I'm hoping to intern with.
I can't share details yet (NDA and all that), but it's been an incredible learning experience. Building something for a real business with real requirements has taught me:
- The importance of clear communication
- Balancing technical perfection with business needs
- Managing scope and deadlines
Whether or not this leads to an internship, the experience has been invaluable.
📚 What I've Learned#
These past two months have been intense, but incredibly educational. Here are my key takeaways:
1. Building is the Best Learning#
No tutorial can replace building real projects. Each of these applications taught me something new:
- Julerulett – Complex animations and audio synchronization
- Pokédex – Game mechanics and user progression systems
- moboPOS – Business logic and offline-first architecture
- Schedulo – Multi-tenancy and Laravel ecosystem
2. Different Projects, Different Skills#
By building diverse projects, I've demonstrated versatility:
- Frontend: React, Next.js, Tailwind, Framer Motion
- Backend: Node.js, Laravel, MongoDB, MySQL
- Full-Stack: Authentication, databases, APIs, deployment
- Business: POS systems, booking platforms, SaaS architecture
3. Job Hunting is a Full-Time Job#
Applying for positions, networking, building projects, and preparing for interviews takes serious time and energy. It's exhausting, but I'm staying focused and persistent.
4. Portfolio Quality Matters#
Having a polished portfolio with real, working projects makes a huge difference. Recruiters can see exactly what I can build, not just what I claim to know.
🔮 What's Next for 2026?#
As we start this new year, here's what I'm focusing on:
Immediate Goals#
- Land an internship or junior position – My top priority
- Continue building – More projects, more learning
- Network actively – Attend meetups, connect with developers
- Improve existing projects – Polish, optimize, add features
Project Ideas#
I have a few more project ideas brewing:
- Recipe manager – With meal planning and shopping lists
- Habit tracker – With streaks and analytics
- Budget app – Personal finance management
- Code snippet manager – For developers
Learning Goals#
- Testing – Jest, Vitest, Playwright
- DevOps – Docker, CI/CD, deployment automation
- Performance – Optimization, caching, monitoring
- Architecture – Design patterns, scalability
💭 Reflections on 2025#
Looking back at 2025, I'm proud of what I've accomplished:
- ✅ Built 13+ production-ready projects
- ✅ Learned Next.js, React, TypeScript, Laravel
- ✅ Created a professional portfolio
- ✅ Attended tech events and networked
- ✅ Applied to 50+ positions
- ✅ Stayed motivated despite rejections
But I'm also realistic about the challenges:
- ❌ No internship or job yet
- ❌ Lots of rejections and silence
- ❌ Imposter syndrome is real
- ❌ Job market is tough for juniors
Still, I'm optimistic about 2026. Every project makes me a better developer. Every application is practice. Every rejection is a learning opportunity.
🎉 Thank You#
If you've been following my journey, thank you. Your support means more than you know.
If you're also job hunting or learning to code, hang in there. We're in this together.
And if you're a recruiter or hiring manager reading this... hi! 👋 Let's talk.
🚀 Check Out the Projects#
Want to see what I've been building? Here are the links:
- Julerulett – Christmas gift roulette
- Pokédex Battle System – Pokémon battles
- moboPOS – Point of sale system
- Schedulo – Booking platform (GitHub)
Feel free to explore, test, and break things. Feedback is always welcome!
📬 Let's Connect#
If you want to chat about projects, job opportunities, or just say hi:
- Email: marcusboerresen@gmail.com
- GitHub: github.com/Marcus-Kodehode
- Portfolio: mobodigital.no
Here's to a productive and successful 2026! 🚀
What are your goals for 2026? Are you also job hunting? Let me know (once I finally implement that comment system I keep promising... 😅)