Remember that tech student blogger from Cape Town who used to publish a post every Sunday? Good news is she's alive, and the rest, let's just say not so good news.
I have been trying to write this blog post for the past 2 weeks since you know a New Year's post is actually published on New Years, but as you may have guessed it's not easy. Writing down a post after taking a break from blogging is hard, honest reflection is hard, planning ahead is hard. But if you know me, you know I like hard, so in brutal honesty I will invite you to my reflection in the past year.
Let's started with the good stuff (in roughly decreasing order of importance):
1) I completed my travel circuit to Vietnam where I presented my paper (Undergrad thesis) which was also published by ACM, find it here.
2) I graduated with Honors.
3) I completed a 6 month internship at Amazon Development Centre in CapeTown where I worked a critical customer facing feature and had the priviledge of working alongside very smart people.
4) I received a full time offer at Amazon and Microsoft and chose the latter which landed me in Vancouver where I'm writing this post from.
5) I launched my career as a Software Engineer, went on my first business travel and presented my work at a NIPS workshop.
6) I climbed the highest Mountain in Africa then ran a marathon immediately afterwards. Read about it here, I hiked more CapeTown's mountains than I can remember.
7) I fell in love with running again especially winter running. I took a short hiatus on arriving in Vancouver only to realize how much more fun winter running is. #RunnersGonnaRun
7) My goodreads profile was very active, although I started reading tonnes of books, I completed my goal of 12. I'm carrying over some to 2018 and I probably won't revisit some ever again, its okay to let go.
8) I wrote a fun technical post on the Pancake sorting algorithms that was a major hit over 1000 page views.
9) I made and met new friends online, at work and outside of work. Only introverts and sensitive people like myself will appreciate how much of an accomplishment this is.
10) I got over a painful break up together with its close relative, depression, all while living alone. This was probably the overarching theme of 2017 and I'm glad to be at a place to talk about it now.
If you weren't impressed by the above, prepare yourself for disappointment because in brutal honesty I will share the ugly parts.
1) First things first, I stopped blogging. I won't sugar coat the fact that I didn't make time for it. At the time it felt like an inconvenience, only to realize that writing, blogging gave me so much more than online presence. It gave me a platform, an opportunity to reflect and connect, things I definitely want in 2018.
2) I stayed at home for 2 months doing absolutely nothing except waiting for my work-permit. I may have taken an online ML course or two, wrote a few random posts, babysit-ted my nephews , but nothing significant. I definitely know what retirement feels like and I'm glad I have years before that hits.
3) I started writing a novel but of course life got in the way.
4) I got scammed. Lol.
5) I signed up for a photography course which I didn't complete.
6) I signed for a swimming course which I didn't complete.
7) I could have better utilized my free time..I didn't
8)I could have traveled more , I didn't.
9)I could have spoken up about so many issues .. I didn't.
2017 has been a year of lots of transformations, physically, mentally, emotionally, financially. I'm still figuring about life as an adult. I have learnt tons and I will share some of it
1) Being independent doesn't mean isolating yourself. In theory, you can survive alone, but you don't have to. No one ever makes it alone.
2) The power of support (receiving and giving it). I didn't really give it much thought in college because it was so much easier to meet like minded people build your network. The real heroes are the ones who say Yes to unconventional ideas.
3) There is no curriculum to life. There is no universal scale to measure our worth, or universal goal we should all aspire to. There are endless opportunities for self improvement; do what makes you happy, of course if it makes financial sense.
4) Micro-aggression is real, Isolation is real. Context: I have been working at companies where I find myself being the only black female in the office and that is not a good thing. It is much harder to get mentors and support,
5) Its easier to focus on work, at least for me, and ignore life. I got through college behind the facade of the smart hardworking student, this serves diminishing returns in the real world. Adulting is really about being comfortable to express yourself and building that platform.
6) Building trust might be the single most important accomplishment of your life.
7) #Personal finance. Just because school didn't teach it and people don't talk about it doesn't mean you shouldn't educate yourself.
8) Its easier to ask for forgiveness than permissions. As I've learnt recently from Dona Sarkar #DoTheThing.
I wish I could say I'm hitting refresh and I'll do the typical New Years' list: gym, meditate ..etc..but that comes easy for me. Solitary activities come very easy for me. I'm going back to 2018, the same person I was last week, with the same challenges and will be interacting with the same people. I won't set myself up for failure, instead I will tell you my priorities. This year I will grow technically (do I hear promotion anyone?), I will run my first full marathon, I will be a better photographer, I will write more, I will make financial investments, I will support my friends and acquaintances
I'll take care of me; physically, mentally, emotionally and financially .I will take risks, make mistakes, fail, cry, be human and grow. Thanks for reading and have a prosperous new year!
