2017 Review: Acing Shii Up
Happy new year guys! 🎉
As I thought through what to write, I ended up with a smile on my face. I’d have to be stupid to not be excited about the year I had. Even though I didn’t do a number of the things I mentioned in my 2016 year in review.
Quick summary of that.
- Personal Projects (Build 4)— I didn’t. Only built 3. Gathered, DevComm and DevLogic. And a tiny browser extension. Random48LawsOfPower.
- Technologies — Not even close. Dissappointed.
- Open Source — Well. We did our best. Almost greened out. Here’s to more open sourcing. 🙂
- Travel Out —I didn’t step out of the country fam. Lmao. I almost did, till I blew it. Well, we have this year.
- Writing and Speaking — Not as much as I wanted.
- Promoting Nigerian Tech — With my heart.
So now that that’s out of the way, I had a wonderful 2017. Especially when I realize this is my first year out of school and after NYSC.
Employment.
I started out with a new job in January at Hirefreehands. And I had the opportunity of working with some of the amazing people I’d meet this year.
I resigned in July and had the whole month of August to bask in unemployment.
Then I got a wonderful job at Ingressive with some of the most Amazing people I know.
Where I get to do what I love doing. And it’s part-time. So I get to freelance and it’s been awesome. But stepping into the new year, I’d be looking for full time roles to perfectly compliment the community work I do with Ingressive. Cheers to that.
Experiences
To the craziest parts of my year. And no, this didn’t involve me traveling to different parts of the world. Rather, different parts of my mind and wants.
AceKYD’s Lagos Tech Tour
During my fun-employment in August, I embarked on different things I’d have loved to do. One of which was the Lagos Tech Tour. I had no idea it was going to turn out like it did with all the support I got from DevCenter, Wallet.ng, and the entire community. I ended up visiting 13 companies in 5 days and with 11 volunteers. Check out the playlist below to catch the experience.
Mint Podcast
My jump into podcasting involved me talking about the Nigerian tech scene as best as I could. And although we ended abruptly (still to continue), we were able to produce 30 episodes that gathered almost 10,000 plays. 🔥
We had the opportunity of talking with the likes of Neo Ighodaro, Prosper Otemuyiwa, Aisha Bello, SuperSanusi, John Oke and Usman Abiola.
This is probably the best thing I did this year because I had the opportunity of documenting the story and voice of AM Imogie. A brother we lost this year. Rest in peace brother. This is the single best thing I did this year.
DevLogic
I started Devlogic.co earlier this year cos I wanted to address the thought process of developers. We have amazing tutorials all over the web on how to do stuff and anyone can just copy and paste this code and its working without understanding how or why. This is what I intend to address with DevLogic. Plus I am also accepting guest video tutors, so if you feel this is something you’d love to do or have something amazing to share, please check it out.
Imogie Mubarak
I lost a friend this year. A brother and mentor. And I never got myself to say good bye. This had a serious effect on how I proceeded with life. It saddens me that we didn’t spend much time together as we should have. We never had that ass whooping session we agreed on. I didn’t get a chance to tell you that idea you gave me on how to finally get a girlfriend was shitty. I didn’t listen to most of your advice in that 2 weeks lodge with Obaseki Nosa. I’m sorry.
Moving forward, I want to spend more time with people that matter. Make new friends and relate better with people. Because this work still remains but anyone can go any f*cking time. I miss you brother.
Vlogging
I started with Vlogging in 2017 after dabbling with audio on the podcast. I think I’m going to be doing this for a while. Especially with the ginger I’ve gotten from Fisayo Fosudo who somehow, I’m yet to meet and we stay in the same Lagos but has found a way to not only provide answers to my questions but also lay a path of quality videos that I’m nowhere close to. 😂
I plan on sharing my thoughts, opinions, and adventure on my YouTube channel so do check it out.
Talks
I didn’t talk as much as I wanted this year but the ones I did were awesome. From my first talk at forLoop Ibadan to speaking at the largest developer gathering in Nigeria so far, forLoop Lagos. Nothing short of amazing.
Chasing Dreams.
As some of us may know already, started from humble beginnings and didn’t have access to a lot of privileges like many of us, including the little things that makes you feel good. In 2017, I looked into changing some of the story for myself.
I finally learnt how to drive. Went to driving school. I was still the only one in my driving school that was learning without having a car. But you know, we move! 🙂
I took myself flying. This was hard cos when I had the opportunity, I barely had the means. But I told myself, nah, we are doing this bruv. I got my international passport this year (Ready to travel the world in 2018) and I flew to Akwa Ibom to witness the lovely wedding ceremony of Mark Essien and Jenni. There was trouble with the engine, a lot of turbulence and people were so concerned that we had to return to the airport, but I had no worries cos I thought it was normal. Ignorance is bliss till you know what’s up 😂
#StriveForGreatness🚀. For 2018, I’m going after the biggest of them all. Meet and watch LeBron James play. I’ll probably have to start a goFundme along the line so watch out. 😂
I finally won something online. Thanks to Cloudinary for this amazing headphones after participating and winning the Cloudinary Neural Style Transfer held in 2017. Shoutout to Prosper Otemuyiwa for delivering it.
I think this is getting really long already so allow me to round up.
I want to use this opportunity to say a big thanks to every one who provided me with opportunities even when I didn’t feel deserving. Who provided words of encouragement when I was down. To everyone who made my 2017 awesome. Thank you. To the community, to Femi TAIWO, to Osioke Itseuwa, to Obaseki Nosa — thank you for all the strength and insult you provided me to get my shii right although I still hate you for not dropping that ps4, to Oo Nwoye, to John Oke, to Momoh Silm, Fisayo Fosudo, Neo Ighodaro and Christian Nwamba. Thank you.
2018?
I am going after happiness, relationship with humans, more growth and community development. And I’ll do everything in my power to make it memorable. I also want to spoil myself with gadgets seeing as I didn’t acquire any in 2017 so if you are feeling generous, here’s my growing wishlist on Amazon. God bless you as you do so.
Now let’s go Ace shii up! Here’s to more learning and growth.
