Wrapping up 2023

Whew! It's been one hell of a while since I wrote the last blog post, it just came to my attention I have a blog, apologies for the hiatus😅

This year has been one of the most eye-opening years I've had, be it in development as well as other aspects of my life. None of the past years have managed to make myself aware of my shortcomings, my limitations and have also showed me how to overcome them all by myself. I am grateful to have been exposed to a variety of things to learn and the people I've met along the way, and I'm grateful for the numerous opportunities I got to learn so many different disciplines of engineering technology.

The first half of the year was stupendously eventful, considering I've somehow managed to dabble in everything from circuitry and PCB design, all the way to machine learning, robotics, CyberSec and web development. But however, the second half of the year was not as eventful thanks to academic constraints, personal problems and mental health. But I am just as grateful for that as I am for the first part of the year, because of everything I learnt about myself in that time period. Long story short, I grew as a developer and then I grew as a person this year.

The events I attended this year were really memorable. Thanks to me being a part of the organizing committee of some events, I have had the fortune to meet some very cool people and make them acquaintances. I learnt a ton from speakers. I took part in hackathons, and met really talented people. I undertook a couple of campus projects and learnt a lot about product design, and how to take into account the nuances and plights of the users it is designed for.

I made a community for like minded programmers, developers and entrepreneurs to share their learnings and information with each other and to create a common place for collaboration amongst ourselves. 54 members strong and counting, it unites innovators from all years and disciplines of engineering across the campus to join forces to accomplish something bigger than all of us.

I learnt a lot of technologies this year, most notably web development frameworks. I've had the fortune of being acquainted with the best of the best upperclassmen of my university who were kind enough to reveal what they did to get where they are, and to encourage me to not just follow their footsteps, but to go the extra mile and become extraordinary.

Not only did I get to learn the technical aspects of running a club, but also the organizational aspects of club events. I learnt the soft skills of negotiation, communication and rising up to the challenge very well, thanks to working closely with the administrators of my club. I've had the fortune of being able to be on the other side, and interviewing the juniors applying for my clubs. I met several ambitious lowerclassmen who inspired me with their drive and their optimism.

Tech wise, I was gifted a Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite last September, which greatly improved my productivity and my note-taking capabilities. Being able to carry such a light but also a big screen to campus and back home is a life-changer. And, after experimenting with multiple Linux distros, I've realized my dependence on some windows-only applications outweighed being able to sustain a dual-boot configuration anymore, and so I had to switch back to good ol' windows and WSL.

The future looks promising, and I am looking forward to further develop my skills and to contribute to my clubs and communities. Setbacks are inevitable, but it is our response to them that truly matters. In the words of Katherine Paterson, "The only way to make sense out of chaos is to plunge into the midst of it, move around in it, and join the dance." Let's remain committed to pushing our boundaries, embracing learning, and endeavouring to make a positive impact in the world. Wishing everyone a happy and fulfilling new year!