This reminds me so much of when I started (almost 5 years ago now). My then boyfriend shared his interest in design and development and I ended up taking some programming courses for fun. I had no clue wtf I was doing for so long but I liked it...I also made a little app and made my brother click a button that spit out the text "You're stupid".

The courses and self teaching went a long way. I started at a crappy digital design agency and now work at a company many people have heard of!

Good luck to your girlfriend! I'm inspired by her.