2020 Year in Review
The beginning of the year was a little rough for me, I had just finished my final exams the previous year and while awaiting my result, I was actively trying to improve my skills.
I had just been accepted into a 3 months intensive learning program by She Codes Africa and everything was going well at the time.
I also reached out to a company and I was fortunate enough to get interviewed by one of the best interview team I know and to the best of my understanding, the interview went well.
Everything seemed to be going fine until my results came in, they were not what I was expecting, and the whole situation took a toll on me, on one hand, the company I reached out to had not gotten back to me and I was starting to doubt if they ever would and on the other hand was my results, these setbacks kind of set the tone of the year for me, thankfully, it didn’t last for too long.
Making 2020 Work
I kept at my learning and tried to focus on it and did the best I could because at the time it felt like that was the only thing I had control over.
In the first week of February, I received a mail from the company I applied to in January, offering me a role as an intern and an outline of all the goodies that were to come with it. Here I was, a few weeks after receiving the message about my results, that I would be allowed to work with a company as a web developer and this would also mean that I would be moving to Lagos, I was excited and eager to step into the new chapter of my life and everything went uphill from there.
Looking back, I am glad that it came at the time it did.
I resumed in march, and for the first few weeks everything seemed so terrifying, some of the technologies being used were not what I was used to but I had to learn as quickly as I could, this is not to say that the company and the people were not being supportive, but because I felt like a fraud most of the time and I could feel the imposter syndrome sets in, but with lots of help from my very good friend and support from my colleagues, the feeling started to fade away.
In September, I got another mail stating that they would be offering me a full-time role as a frontend engineer. The feeling I had after reading that mail cannot be expressed with words, all my plans, all my goals, all my prayers were being answered before my eyes.
This company was willing to take this chance on me and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity.
In the end, 2020 turned out to be a great year for me, need I say the best, despite the setbacks that were mentioned and those that weren’t, despite the pandemic, I’m grateful for everything that happened, everything has somehow shaped me into who I am, both personally and professionally.
I’m happy with where I am right now and hope to improve more and get out of my comfort zone to do the things I’ve always wanted to.
Here is a summary of my wins for this year
- I completed a 3 months intensive learning on the React track for SCA Mentoring Program.
- I moved to the beautiful city of Lagos.
- I got an internship position at an amazing company and was offered a full-time role towards the end of the year.
- I acquired new work gadgets.
- I mentored more than 10 persons on basic web technologies via GDG Benin program.
- I hosted a GDG Benin event.
In 2021 I’m hoping to contribute to open source projects, write technical articles, travel and generally to improve my skills.
