Hi guys, I’ll be looking back at the year 2023 and documenting how it went for me.
As usual, I set goals that kept me up at night. Let’s go over them and see how we fared.
The beginning
The year started pretty chilled. I was energized to cook, and the fact that my industrial training started in January meant I had about 5 months of free time on my hands. So I built and learned.
Career
I set out to 2.5X my income before mid-year, and I was able to do 3.2X. I got a new job the third month into the year, and I lost it at the end of the year (due to no major faults on my part). It was an exciting journey with amazing teammates. I got the chance to explore one of the confluences of AI and accounting. The job, however, truncated a lot of my learning. So it was a win-win, I guess.
Upskilling
I picked up a couple of things:
I completed a project, Meetly which I started in the last months of 2022 after learning ExpressJs. It’s a form of Calendly clone.
I started learning DSA from an Udemy course I got.
I started practicing system design using System Design Expert and Grok system design interview
I started preparing for interviews (using Cracking the Coding Interview) as I was targeting summer internships.
I learned FastAPI from the documentation and did a thing or two with it.
I also learned Typescript (which I never got to use).
I briefly picked up GO.
Finance
I met 90% of my savings goal. But it’s the savings that’s now saving me 🥲
I spent a lot 😭, especially on food. The opportunity cost of a demanding job and the pay that comes with it is time. I was always trying to conserve energy and save time to work, attend classes, study, etc. So I had to spend money to get some non-consequential things done.
I thought I’d be able to read some books on finance, but I wasn’t able to.
School
I resumed my final year in June. The academic calendar was just for 6 months (June to December 23). Within this period, I had two defenses, lots of lectures (I was averaging about 20 hours per week in classes, transit, etc.), two exams, and my final year project.
If you’re curious about why I attended classes:
All seems to be going well with software engineering, but I’d rather have what I wouldn’t need than need something I don’t have. School and grades were important until the end.
Part of my study strategy is to learn directly from the lecturer. That way, I’m introduced to the topic and only need to put just enough effort into cementing my understanding.
I was the class rep 😂.
Despite the stress and all, I was able to cross over to a CGPA I felt was good enough. I also completed my undergraduate studies. It was a win for school in 2023.
Many thanks to family, coursemates, and friends who helped during this period.
Personal
For the first time in years, I finished a book. I read two books:
Salvation through Repentance: An Islamic View by Dr. Bilal Philips (04/02/2023).
Before you fall in love by Biola Abass (27/02/2023).
Internship at NITHUB, Unilag
During the year, I interned at NitHub for my SIWES. I met the most amazing minds there and made good friends. The hub also afforded me the comfort of achieving some of the upskilling goals I had set. I also got to work on an Oauth project alongside an amazing team. This project sort of gave me a confidence boost, as we had to implement it by reading articles and blogs.
I also got the chance to learn from other members of the hub. I was also opportune to share what I knew with people.
Outings
I don’t fancy going out much, as I believe there is always a lot of important work to do, or maybe it's just really draining. But I did some hangouts with colleagues and classmates. I also attended events such as Techfest, DevFest Akure, and Google IO Extended.
Summary
The last few months were overall good, Alhamdulillah. Lots of progress was made. A few moments of setbacks. I also met amazing people. Indeed, we plan; Allah plans, and Allah is the best of all planners.
Goals for the next few months
In the coming months, my objectives remain consistent; they are ambitious enough to occupy my thoughts, focusing more on establishing habits than achieving specific, finite outcomes. (sneaks in ChatGPT 😂)
Below is a list. Hopefully, they keep me up at night like in previous years.
Get a job 🥲. Refer me to BE roles.
Write at least five technical articles. I probably know something someone somewhere needs. I intend to help them.
Continue learning GOlang
Along with my friends, cook coding challenges using any of the languages I write.
Daily DSA problem
Weekly system design sessions.
Possibility of building out project ideas I've been nursing (this will require that I dive into frontend development a little bit; I'm excited!).
Read at least five books. I started “How Successful People Think” by John C. Maxwell.
Hang out more; everyone is complaining, lol.
Attend and possibly speak at tech conferences.
A few other things I don’t want to tell you 😂
Thanks for sticking around. Till next time.
