I promised myself to start writing more but seems like I just keep procrastinating and pushing, I am not going to tell you all that I will start in the new year, But we'll see about that.
I don't know what theme or title to explain how this year went. But life has a way of making things work out. When this year started, I had no plans or goals per say I just wanted things to go well and work out, I prayed to God to make this year soft for me, of course, I wanted to work very hard but in the same vein, I didn't want to stress about a lot of things.
To run through this year in review properly I had to scroll my gallery down to January. I initially planned to tell you a story for each month, but guess who is facing the consequences of procrastination now?🤡, So instead I'll just walk you through how the year went.
1st half of the Year
January started on a light note, I had resumed school and as the usual person that I am, I started trying to find a balance between school and work, If you know me well, You would know I am a community person, I practically did a tonne of community work that I got burnt out in February. The highlight of January was me joining the volunteer team for the Binance in Ekiti event, as usual, I had such a swell time volunteering and making the event a success. It was the first of its kind. I also got accepted into the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadorship program which was a big win because I had helped co-organize the Microsoft Community launch in my school the year before.
February came along and my birthday came I clocked 20 (2 decades on earth already?) I am grateful for the friends I have had at each phase of my life, A few friends came around and made it worthwhile, Big ups to Flourish, Debby, Tunde, Tobi, and Deji. In the same February, I came home for the elections. I spent most parts of the election break trying to recover the energy I had lost and also working on side projects to pass the time.
March came, I moved to Lagos for a while, and as a perk of being a Microsoft Student Ambassador, I got to attend a Techies meetup that happened at the Microsoft ADC office, in Lagos Nigeria. I met other school student ambassadors and had such a swell time. As I currently write this article I scrolled down to that day I had the best time.
March began to move fast and I moved back to school, I got to speak at a GDSC event in my school, For someone who can be very shy, I did speak at quite a number of virtual and in-person events, At that event my very own friend and the boss decided to show up and surprise everybody in the person of Sodiq Akinjobi most people probably know him as Geek. I'm pretty sure he was very proud of what he saw and how the tech ecosystem in Ekiti was growing.
That phase ended with so many smiles on my cheeks and school exams came in May, trust me my school can be very draining. But we must do it regardless innit?
Life moves really fast if you look at it. Boom my energy was up again and I started to plan another major event in my school which was the Global Power platform Bootcamp in collaboration with other Microsoft ambassadors in my school. In June we had the event and It was a success with over 150 attendees.
Now Let's talk technical, shall we? All this while I only built and worked on a number of projects which I can't exactly talk about as usual but I had fun building and learning g new technologies on the side, It was time to resume my SIWES program. I got to do it with a multinational company, My first time ever working in a big organization. I picked up a new role entirely which was not exactly what I picked or let's say what I wanted. I got on board with this team and was introduced to the world of Quality Assurance Engineering, I got to use Java for the first time, I wrote automation codes for testing using cypress, and I worked on real-life projects. In the short period I worked there I did learn a lot and I am grateful and happy I worked there.
2nd half of the Year
While I was on my Siwes Program, In August I spoke at Genzhackfest, an event of over 800+ attendees, a major win for me because prior to that I had not spoken at an event of that size. On my Instagram page, I said "These pictures are the hardest pictures taken this year, it only gets better from here".
In September I made this tweet and this fueled my drive till now that is the end of the year, Later this same month I changed my laptop and got a MacBook Pro, If you know me and knew the laptop I was using, It was honestly nothing to write home about, But it did serve me for 3 years. I finished IT in September and got back to school.
October came and I had to fight for my life, the good life I had lived for the most part of the year, felt like the Devil wasn't happy, I struggled through, also managing school by the side. I managed to still plan and organize events regardless, Devfest szn approached, and I organized a physical hangout for the Cowrywise Ambassadors in my School. I went hiking. One highlight of this month, no matter the shege I saw, I made sure to have fun, and I hung out with friends regardless. I still built and worked on multiple side projects
In November Devfest Ado Ekiti happened and was a success. I got nominated to be the Assistant Pastor for my Campus church, The Discovery. Again if you know me well, I tried to run for my life but I couldn't but guess who is handling it now without fear? In the same month organized the first Physical financial literacy event in the Cowrywise Ambassadorship Program at my school. As usual was a success.
In December school exams came, and I had to lay low for a while, usually, exams are very stressful for me. I didn't do anything spectacular, Mostly spent it with friends and family
Career Highlights
This year I got confused and maybe I am still confused I have dabbled into different parts of the tech, I practically did, Frontend, Community Management and Quality Assurance Engineering, In 2024 I want to streamline my focus more
This year was short, Because tell me why are we in December already? A lot happened this year, and I'll highlight them
Got into the Microsoft Learn Ambassadorship Program
Spoke at Genzhackfest
Volunteered and co-organized several tech events
Worked on several Projects as a Frontend Engineer
x2 My income
Joined the team that Built the Devfest Ado-Ekiti Website
Became a Certified Community Manager
L,s
In life, there are always wins and losses
Didn't get my dream Community Manager role
Lost some money
Didn't achieve some goals I set
Unemployed
On friendships / Relationships
I would like to begin by thanking everyone who showed up for me this year. All the friendships were doors and mirrors and windows and safe spaces. Friendships that showed me things I didn’t know about myself; that saw me beyond what everyone else could see. Friendships that allowed me to escape and experience some semblance of peace. I didn’t fall or fail because I had people with me, and I was confident that they would help me. I experienced a million and one little and big kindnesses throughout 2023. I felt very very loved.
I made quite a number of friends this year, I usually say that I have the best set of friends and I am super super grateful for them. I lost some, which was very painful but I have learned that sometimes life happens. Sometimes people leave because they want to leave. Sometimes you don’t want the same things, and that’s okay. Sometimes you have to leave to protect your sanity. There are many reasons why you should let a love go.
Self
This year, I learned to love myself more and understand myself better. I learned to put myself first prioritize my peace of mind and cherish it more than anything else. I mostly pushed myself beyond my limits, I explored more I traveled and stayed away from home more than usual.
On a deeper level I learned quite a few things about life in general.
Master Yourself; be your own best friend: You will live with yourself for the rest of your life, so you might as well understand who you are, what you like and dislike, and your wants, needs, and desires, as best as you can. You cannot learn yourself if you don’t spend enough time alone. So spend time alone. Not with music, or books. Just by yourself.
Cook Your Own Meals: For the most part of this year I stayed alone in school, typically I can be a very lazy person and I like people helping me with things like cooking and all, But this year I appreciated cooking by myself, for myself
Do Good Work: Doing good work consistently will do wonders for your career. There are no cheat codes. Put your head down and work. As Sodiq will say, The universe finds a way to reward you for what you do.
Discipline is the highest form of Self-love It’s very simple. Whenever we place people in high regard, and we make promises to them, we do everything in our power to follow through. So how then do you know if you rate yourself? Well, there you have it.
In 2024, apart from career growth and progress, I desire more peace, more healing, and more grounding of the self. I want to experience things more deeply. To live life on a fuller dimension. I want to do more. I want to be the best at what I do.
2024 is shaping up to be a very self-focused year, and I like that. I can’t wait to experience new things.
PS: I am Job hunting 😉. I am open to roles as a Frontend Engineer or as a Developer Community Manager.