My 2019 in review; My year of Growth.
This Year I’d say had been very challenging if not the most challenging year of mine so far. Not just the most challenging but the most rewarding. Challenging in the sense that I’d set goals that seemed not very feasible at the beginning and rewarding in the sense that I literally saw the gaols met and even more.
In 2019, I
- got aligned with a reputable Tech Company
- got over 15 certifications on software development from OpenClassRooms and Udemy.
- had my very first international trip
- worked on more than 10 international and 3 local software products
- started writing professionally
- co-organized 4 meetups in Google Cloud Developer Community
- spoke in and facilitated up to 10 conferences/meetups
- started a Females in Tech Community
….. and more.
I’d never done this EOY review thing though, I had a really challenging and awesome year and I thought I should pen it down somewhere and possible share with people.
Work
I started the year, as a new employee(Software Developer) in a reputable Tech Company. I spent most of this period, trying to get acquainted with the company policies, tools, and norms. Prior to this time, I’d never found myself in a real distributed team, so I really had a lot to learn, professionally though because even though I had been doing these things as a freelancer, it’s another ball game altogether in a professional distributed team.. Ranging from hard skills(Microservices integration and usage, MVC pattern of development, Collaboration and management tools such as Confluence, Jira, Kanban, Scrum, etc to soft skills(professional communication and communication tools, time management/ accountability and lots more). I was able to work on software projects, mostly international projects and that gives me so much joy and confidence.
Certifications
in 2019, I recorded the highest number of certifications in my career, with over 15 premium certifications from OpenClassRooms and Udemy. I say thank you to Facebook for giving me the Scholarship in OpenClassRooms.
Event Organising
In 2019, we organized about 4 meetups for GDG Cloud Portharcourt, members in which were taught google cloud technologies. Thanks to the lead organizer, Gino Osahon and my co-organizer, Philip Obiorah for making these come true.
on the 16th of November, I was part of the core organizing team for Devfest 2019. It was an amazing experience considering the fact it was my first co-organizing event with more than 400 attendees.
On the 3oth of November, HertechTrail was launched and the inaugural event was hosted. HertechTrail is a female community that aims at equipping ladies with digital skills. I was surprised at the massive support we got in making this dream a reality. From individuals like Lucas Bruce, Theodora Isola, Joklinz Tech, @aqua_robotics and many more too numerous to mention, to organizations such as Olotu Square, Nira Labs, Techlinks and others and finally my awesome team members, @Faith Pueneh, Owanate Amachree, @jen_deux.
Speaking/Facilitation
This year, I presented at 5 Conferences/Events
- At Women International Day Celebration, Developer Circles, I spoke about Opportunities for Women in the Tech Space
- At WTM Summit, Ghana, 1 spoke about Collaboration in Software Development
- At GDG Devfest Onitsha, I spoke about Penetrating and Surviving the Modern Day Technology Industry
- I was also privileged to be a facilitator for both ALC with Google and DevCtrainingwithAndela where I worked members through the learning process.
It was kinda disappointing I could not make it to 2 of other speaking engagements for personal reasons.
Writing
I started writing professionally in late 2019, and I promise to do more in 2020. You can check me out on dev.to where I put up technical content and here in Medium where I write on more of my personal journey.
Travel
Growing up, I didn’t like travelling, but when it has got to do with Tech, I love it so much.
In 2019, I travelled to 2 local states and 1 country for the purpose of Technology. I was privileged to represent at WTM summit(from Google) as an ambassador in Ghana. I also attended the GDG SSA summit in Ghana.
Health & Fitness
Though I didn’t meet my target, I’m glad I worked on my fitness.
Some of the things that made me very happy in 2019 was connecting with awesome people, within and outside my country(I’d probably write about this sometime) and also the fact that I grew immensely in my craft(Software Development and Management)
My Greatest lesson in 2019 was; “You don’t need any permission from no one to grow.”.
What’s Next?
I have some things planned out for 2020 and I hope I meet more than my expectations. I can’t wait to write about my 2020 review.
