How watching my girlfriend struggle with nursing exams led me to build an AI study tool for students everywhere

It didn't start with a startup idea, a pitch deck, or a plan to build the next big thing. It started with my girlfriend, Bridget.

She's a nursing student. Smart. Disciplined. The kind of person who puts in the work. But despite studying hard, she kept feeling overwhelmed, buried under notes, past questions, and the constant fear every student knows too well:

"Am I even studying the right things?"

Watching someone you love struggle like that changes how you think.

Studying Hard Isn't Always Studying Smart

Nursing exams, and exams in general, aren't just about effort. They're about patterns.

Certain topics come back again and again, certain concepts are tested in different ways, and some things, no matter how much time you spend on them, barely show up.

But no one tells students this clearly. So they read everything, memorize everything, and burn out anyway.

That's when I asked a simple question: What if exam questions aren't random?

A Quiet Experiment

I didn't set out to build anything serious.

I took Bridget's past questions and her study notes. I dropped them into an AI tool and asked it to analyze them, not to summarize, but to find patterns.

I asked it to identify:

Repeating topics
Common focus areas
Concepts exams kept circling back to

The goal wasn't shortcuts. It was clarity.

The Result We Didn't Expect

What came back surprised both of us.

Instead of more information, it gave direction. It highlighted what actually mattered, what was repeatedly tested, and where she should focus her time.

So Bridget studied differently. She focused on the areas that kept showing up.

When the exam finally came, something strange happened. Many of the questions felt familiar. Not because she had seen them before, but because she had studied the right patterns.

She aced the exam, and that moment wouldn't leave my head.

The Question That Changed Everything

That success bothered me, in a good way.

Not because it worked, but because millions of students don't have someone doing this for them.

Most students have past questions, notes, limited time, and overwhelming pressure. What they don't have is guidance on where to focus.

I'm a solo full-stack developer, so I did the only thing I knew how to do. I built Brigo.

Why It's Called Brigo

The name comes from Bridget.

Because Brigo exists for students like her. Students who are capable, hardworking, and still feel like they're guessing.

Brigo analyzes past questions and study materials to identify patterns, highlight focus areas, and predict likely exam questions based on trends.

It doesn't replace studying. It replaces studying blindly.

What Brigo Is Really About

Brigo isn't magic.

It won't pass exams for you or guarantee 100%. What it does is help you:

Study with intention
Spend your limited time on what actually matters
Walk into exams feeling prepared instead of panicked
Turn effort into results

How Brigo Helps You Study Smarter

As Brigo evolved, one thing became clear: students don't just need predictions. They need better ways to learn.

That's why Brigo doesn't stop at identifying focus areas. It also helps you turn study notes into quizzes, convert notes into flashcards, transform long notes into audio podcasts, and analyze past questions to predict likely exam topics.

None of these features exist for the sake of features. They exist to solve one problem: helping students make the most of their limited time and energy.

From One Exam to Many Students

This started with love, curiosity, and one nursing exam.

Now, it's for every student who has ever thought: "I studied so hard... why did I still miss this?"

If Brigo helps even one student feel more confident, more focused, and less overwhelmed, then it's doing exactly what it was built to do.

Welcome to Brigo. Whether you're a nursing student like Bridget, or any student who's ever felt overwhelmed by exam prep, we built this for you.

Ready to study smarter? Download Brigo and turn your next exam into your best one yet.

P.S. Brigo is live and ready to help you study smarter. Built by a solo developer who cares deeply about student success. Available now on iOS and Android.

Brigo Was Never Meant to Be an App