Happy New Year, Loves.

6 min readJan 2, 2021

Happy New Year, Loves.

For three years now, I have been writing about my year and making plans for the next. I usually find it very useful because it helps me reflect on what I achieved in the past year and what I can do better in the coming year. I hope this inspires you to do the same.

The 2020 resolution was to live healthily and be very intentional with my growth.. So you see, when a virus came out of nowhere, I felt helpless. Looking back today at all that happened in 2020, it feels like I lived 3 years in one.

As always, this review will answer three questions.

What went well in 2020?
What didn’t go so well in 2020?
What do I plan to achieve in 2021?

I did manage to accomplish a few of what I planned last year, it’s the things that I didn’t plan to do that brought me the greatest sense of fulfilment, it’s crazy!

I really do owe everything to the people in my corner. The continuous support from my friends, the heartwarming gifts, recommendations mean the world to me, thank you.

PERSONAL WINS

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love celebrating my wins. I don’t take my seemingly “little” breakthroughs for granted and pat on the back pushes me further

I turned 21 in the middle of a pandemic. Even though I never thought that I would turn 21 at home, I’m still grateful. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The plan is to turn 22 on a quiet beach, by the way. Here’s to hoping the universe aligns with this.

I really enjoy meeting new people and this year was no exception despite the pandemic. Cheers to online relationships. 🥂
I traveled to 6 different states this year. That’s a good thing if you ask me, haha. I enjoyed every journey –some alone, others with my family.

At some point earlier this year I needed healthy distractions and I decided on exercising, Spanish lessons (hola, buenas noches!), online courses (I’ll say more about this as you read on) and reading, everyday. When I say my productivity was second to none, I mean it!
I joined the #EndSARS protest and it felt really good to be a part of a worthy cause on & offline (may all our heroes continue to Rest In Peace).

I served as the Director of Media and Publicity of the Southwest arm of the Nigerian Medical Students’ Association. Being away from school due to the ASUU strike restricted some of my plans for office but I’m super happy I was able to grow our social media pages with my amazing team members! Follow us 💕

I started saving this year on PiggyVest and Cowrywise. I didn’t use all my money to eat (read: in Yoruba). We did it Joe 🥂

THE UGLY

An emotion I really struggled with in 2020 is hate. Hate for someone I once trusted, hate for the country I live in, hate for the Police Force especially the Special Anti Robbery Squad, hate for the government for not protecting us, hate for the Nigerian educational system, hate for this strange virus that has killed millions of people …I could go on…I was weighed down by it all and deeply frustrated. I don’t know how I snapped out of my feelings but I’m in a better place emotionally now.
I surprisingly lost interest in people too. For an outgoing person, I intentionally avoided conversations, meetups and large gatherings. I’m still figuring out how to go back to default...or not.
Not that this is entirely a bad thing but I’ve still not met the love of life :(

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020

There were so many great moments but I’d like to highlight my top 5

Got Published on Zikoko and Ecofemme

The pandemic ruined my plans for 2020’s Menstrual Hygiene Day (May 24) so I got. online and saw one of my favourite period advocacy organization, Ecofemme accepting first period stories and making them into drawings. I sent mine to them, see here. This was when the idea of compiling short stories for Zikoko hit me lol and viola! I appeared on Zikoko magazine.

Grateful to the people who sent in their stories!

Digital marketing

This one definitely deserves the trophy of the most unexpected achievement this year. At first, I was just looking to try my hand at something new then it got more interesting that I couldn’t stop learning. I took 5 courses on digital marketing, insured resources online and reached out to experienced digital marketers for guidance. I’m slowly finding my foot in this field and I totally love it. I’m sure 2021 would open me to more opportunities. Click to see the breakdown of my journey.

Internship with Helium Health

Getting to work with one of Africa’s largest health tech startups is a dream come true! I was working remotely from my personal workspace at home –giving off tech bro vibes and I learnt so much from my superiors and co-interns in a short time, I’m grateful to them.

Being a part of the Helium Health team made me realize how much can be achieved in the healthcare space with technology.

Barter Flutterwave Ambassadorship

I remember stumbling on this Flutterwave ad on twitter and I thought to myself, ‘this has $1500 written on it, don’t dull o’. As a sharp babe, I quickly made a video then posted on Beyoncé’s twitter. Fast forward to 22nd December, I got a selection mail. I’m truly looking forward to the next 6months with Barter!

I made money!

Disclaimer: I’m such a daddy’s girl so this is a big deal for me.

At a point this year, I was shuffling side gigs with my job and I was stressed! When I paused to see how much I made in total, I was shocked to see half a million. Me? Half a million… without leaving my house?

I’ve spent everything anyway but I thoroughly enjoyed myself and that’s what matters!

I’m back to being a broke babe but we movee.