2022 Reflections and 2023 Goals

2022 was a good year for me. I grew, gained more confidence, made new friends and reconnected with old ones.

Here’s a laundry list of what happened in 2022 and my thoughts on them.

{% details Started keeping a diary %}

For some reason, I like recording things. At the beginning of the year I started using vimwiki and was able to tweak it to my liking. In the past I had used zim which I loved for its hierarchical structure and image embedding, but I eventually stopped using it. I’ve been able to stick with viwiki this year, and I quite like having each diary entry be for the week (Monday - Sunday). The best part is that I started adding summaries for each week and month on the index, so I can glance through my past highlights.

{% enddetails %}

{% details Never-graduated from Recurse %}

At the end of 2021 I decided to join the Recurse Center. I was in a 12 week batch (W1'21) that ended in February of 2022, and I absolutely loved my time there. I made many friends and joined a community that connects me with amazingly kind people that are as interested in programming as I am! I’m so grateful that I can’t ever graduate, and it has been a constant source of positive engagement and discourse throughout 2022.

{% enddetails %}

{% details Started working at a security company %}

Thanks to the Recurse Center career services, I interviewed a ton and was able to land an amazing job. I was specifically looking for a place with good culture that is fully remote, in the security industry, and mainly writing Go. Looking back at the 8 months I’ve spent at Truffle Security, I can confidently say that I found all of that and more. This is my first time working at a startup, and I’m certain my perspective of startups is now skewed with how good it has been.

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{% details Traveled! %}

I really wanted to travel more in 2022. Since I moved back in with my parents during the pandemic, I knew I needed to find a place I would like to live. Part of that process was traveling and getting comfortable traveling on my own.

I’m happy to say that the baby steps I took led to greater and greater experiences, and I ultimately spent a month in the Netherlands. This was huge for me for a few reasons: I had never visited another country on my own, I had never been to Europe before, and I had never spent so much time on a trip. It was an amazing experience and one I’ll never forget!

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{% details Made new friends and reconnected with old ones %}

There’s a special place in my heart for my friends. I’m someone who craves deep connections and would rather have a few really good friends than countless acquaintances. If you’re reading this, thanks for being my friend!

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{% details Practiced self love %}

Not everything was rainbows and sunshine in 2022. There were many days and weeks where I felt down, lost, or received bad news. Practicing self love, giving myself the space and time to feel the feelings, and being my own cheerleader has been great for my mental health.

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And with that, we’re already in 2023! I have a few goals in mind for this year.

{% details Find and move to a place I like %}

This is actually a carry-over from 2022. The challenge will be in finding the place, so I’m setting a deadline to hold myself accountable.

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{% details Dig into more hobbies %}

I have certainly scratched the surface or have otherwise identified hobbies that I would like to pursue. This includes woodworking, pottery, parkour, hiking, playing guitar, making chiptune music, and playing video games.

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{% details Continue blogging %}

It has been a great record of my thoughts and ideas, and I enjoy writing at my own pace.

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{% details Learn more about architectural design %}

It is something that has piqued my interest as I have enjoyed creating buildings in the past, but it’s something I know next to nothing about. I think it would be fun to learn more about the design process from a hobbyist perspective. I would like to be able to sketch my ideas, model them, or even build replicas. Before all that, though, I need to learn about design.

{% enddetails %}

{% details More embedded systems projects %}

Usually I’ll tend to do at least one embedded project a year, but 2022 saw no such project. It’s always fun to design, build, and program a physical thing, and it would be really nice to hone those skills.

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{% details Read more %}

Probably a common “new year’s resolution,” but I have so many cool books that I would like to dedicate time to reading. Instead of reaching for my phone when I’m bored, I want to reach for a book.

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Last but not least, I just wanted to leave a note here regarding my perpetual journey in technology. It’s one of the constants in my life that I will build software, which is why I didn’t mention it anywhere in my reflections. I’m certain I will continue to grow and learn my craft this year, wherever that takes me.

So yeah, a pretty good 2022, and I’m looking forward to what’s to come in 2023.