2022 In Review : Graced

Whew! What a year it has been!

I tried hard to find the perfect description for my year, and I could not help but see grace. It’s my first time writing a year in reveiw💃 after so many years of making attempts.

As the new year approaches, it's natural to reflect on the journey so far, the goals smashed and the ones unattended to, the beautiful memories and the sad ones. In 2022, I experienced a roller coaster of emotions, and as Cakebaby said:

I lost, won, cried, failed, laughed, and loved, but I didn’t fold! 🔥

Let’s get into the details, Shall we?

First Half

The year started with a daring decision for me. I moved from Port-Harcourt (home) to Lagos, Nigeria with the excuse of my 400 level SIWES (Students' Industrial Work Experience Scheme). Deep down, I knew I wouldn’t come back home until after a long while because I left with everything I had. My first month in Lagos was crazy 😭, trying to settle down with a place to stay and a physical job opportunity( because my school wasn’t accepting remote SIWES and I worked remotely).

I got some nice offers, but they didn’t fit the career goals I planned for my year, so I turned them down. My parents had to call me to be sure their daughter was not running mad because I also turned down a bank offer 😂. They tried to convince me, but I had made up my mind, and there was no turning back.

Well, God came through! I got settled with a job for my SIWES program that allowed me to balance my full-time remote work, and I also got a place to stay!

I also had a series of burnouts, especially as a technical writer. I could not bring myself to write an article for nearly 6-8 months. It was crazy and as though my technical writing career froze. It brought a series of depression because I had a lot of talks around the topic and helped people grow their technical writing careers except me (such an irony!). One thing I still enjoyed doing in the documentation space was Product and API documentation because I was working as a backend engineer, and I never struggled with it.

I took a step to Google Season Of Docs (GSOD) to see if doing something slightly different would help my current struggle. It was my first attempt, and I got in 😭. Well, guess what?… I was going to be working on API documentation and building tutorials/user guides for the Open Food Facts project.

Google Season of Docs (GSOD) provides support for open source projects to improve their documentation and allows professional technical writers to gain experience in open source. As a technical writer, you get paid for contributing to open source.

GSOD was my first breakthrough because I really wanted to do better with open source this year (it was a paid open source program). Above all, it allowed me to explore API docs deeper, and I learned a lot during this part of my technical writing journey. Huge shout out to Linda Ikechukwu and Alex Garel for the support every step of the way.

At this point, everything was going fine until my laptop screen broke 😢 by July. I was back to square one because the screen was nearly 80% of my salary. I cried because it was the first laptop I got for myself, and it was barely six months old. However, God did it again, and my friends helped me put some money together to fix it.

Second Half

The second half of the year started out promising. I got accepted to be a Women Techmakers Ambassador. I hold community dearly, and I was looking forward to my next community contribution as I graduate from the Google Developers Student Club program in August. I led GDSC, Osustech for the 2021/2022 session, which is indeed an experience to remember. I will write about it separately because it was a thrilling experience with personal and communal growth.

Google Developer Student Club Leads (GDSC)are passionate leaders at their universities who are dedicated to helping their peers learn and connect.

The Women Techmakers Ambassador (WTM) program supports women in technology who are looking to create impact and give back to their communities.

You can call me a Google Programs Baby 😊. I moved from being a GDSC lead to participating in GSOD, speaking at two WTM events, and being a WTM Ambassador! Who knows what may be next? 😜

October came with Hacktoberfest, and I made many no-code (writing and speaking) contributions. I also came out as a top contributor at Aviyel.

November, aka the month of tech events came with amazing highlights like Google SSA Summit, SheCodeAfrica Summit, and Devfest Lagos. I met amazing people and learned so much in one month.

To cap off the year, I co-organized Akure's first Devfest after seven years. I also organized a Women TechMakers breakfast to provide a safe space for women in the community to discuss their goals and journeys while also learning from a panel of influential women from across the region. Planning this event greatly tested me, and I had the best co-organizers. We had an overwhelming turnout (over 600 participants), and it was beautiful to see weeks of hard work and planning come to fulfillment.

This year I spoke a lot about communities, technical writing, and API documentation. I recently became a Postman Supernova, and I anticipate this journey because I have plans to give more talks and awareness around API and good documentation.

Speaking Engagements

I spoke at over ten events this year on relevant topics in my field. However, I will highlight a few. Early this year, I spoke alongside Sandra Kuria( my boss 🤗) to some female students at a Northern Nigerian University on the Role of Women in the Community.
I also spoke at two Women TechMakers IWD events (Lagos and Port-Harcourt) on “Ensuring Growth As A Technical Writer” and “Community Building and Relationship”. Lastly, I spoke at Devfest Ibadan on “A Primer on API Documentation”. My favorite part of this journey is the feedback I always get on how these talks have helped people navigate their paths in tech.

My Rocketeer Journey

I started job hunting in July cause I was getting burned out and tired at my current job. I needed to switch or experience something new to fit the goals I had set for my career path. I was actively applying to backend and technical writing roles. I had nearly 100 rejection emails and was close to breaking point. A lot of interviews went well, and after good feedback on my technical tasks, I still wake up to breakfast emails😥 (breakfast, a Nigerian slang for heartbreak).

Finally, the breakthrough came 😭. It's nearly one month as a Technical Writer at Rocket.Chat, and it has been a fantastic journey with an amazing team/support system. I wish I could really explain how beautiful it has been because sometimes I find it hard to believe that I am at this point in my life with a massive opportunity to grow my career and contribute to open source full-time.

Wrap-Up & 2023

“Don’t look too far to see how good God is; just look at me 😭”.

I am grateful to God for holding my hands throughout 2022 because the shege (Nigerian slang for unpleasant situations) I saw this year was premium! I am grateful for family, friends, and leaders. A lot of persons were interested in my growth and invested so much to see me bloom. Anywhere you see Lois Bassey, help me squeeze $1k inside her hand 🥺. It's been a back-to-back success since she got me my first full-time role in 2021. She has taught me so many beautiful lessons in and out of work. I made a long list of things I wanted to get myself and goals/investments I wanted to achieve. Looking back, I can’t help but be grateful for ticking nearly every one of them.

I also have fantastic support from friends who listen to my drama and always have my interest at heart. Shoutout to Sliimi, Gifted, Joel, Yomide, Asaolu, Olu, Juwon, Tony Kay, Ruth(cakebaby), and Yewande.

I hope you don't see these wins as a magical success because I lost a lot, worked a lot, and cried a lot.

Looking forward to the new year; I do not have so much planned. I just want to graduate well from this school 😥. I want to explore growth on many levels in my new role and support as many women as possible in their tech journeys. Soft life and peace of mind is the goal!

So help me, God!