My 2023 Year in Review: A Year of Discovery and Learning

I almost did not create this post because I thought I did not accomplish much in 2023. I do not have any big accomplishments so what's the point? But I pushed past these feelings and here I am embracing my small wins for what they are WINS!

I started the year with a goal of becoming a software engineer. I had no idea how I would accomplish this but somehow everything fell into place.

In 2023,

• I became a full-stack JavaScript software engineer

• I became a technical writer

• I started a blog and wrote 13 articles

• I contributed to open source projects as a beginner

Let's get into the juicy details.

How I started my software engineering journey

I started my year with basic programming knowledge from my classes in uni. This knowledge helped me throughout this journey and I

In February, I started taking Introduction to Programming with Python by CS50. I grew my love for coding and problem solving from this course. I took the course on the Harvard OpenCourseWare and did all the problem sets. I also became active on Twitter at this time.

In April, I learnt about the #100Devs Software Engineering Bootcamp on a TikTok video. I joined the community and started taking the course on YouTube.

This was the best Bootcamp as it helped me solidify my programming knowledge and the community is so supportive. Leon's enthusiasm and positivity really kept me motivated. The support from the community on Twitter and Discord also kept me going. You can check out #100Devs here.

From April to August, I participated and completed the #100DaysOfCode challenge on Twitter. During this time, I went through the #100Devs curriculum and got to class 46. I also developed several projects that enhanced my learning.

During this journey, I learnt the following technical skills:

• Markup languages, HTML and CSS

• Client-side JavaScript

• Server-side languages - Node and Express, PHP

• Frameworks - React.js, Next.js, TailwindCSS, Bootstrap

• NoSQL databases - MongoDB

• SQL databases - MySQL

Becoming a technical writer

Technical writing is a hot topic on Twitter and I was constantly bombarded with content about writing articles and documenting what I learn. This pushed me to start this blog and I posted my first article in May.

In July, I completed the Technical Writing Bootcamp by Lux Tech Academy which helped me improve my technical writing skills. I also got to interact with other technical writers and receive mentorship from experts in the field.

I also took the Technical Writing Course by Google which helped me improve my writing skills and grammar.

Contributing to open source

I had an interest in contributing to open source projects but the process really intimidated me. I wanted to create meaningful contributions but I couldn't seem to find a project to contribute to. My imposter syndrome was really kicking me in the ass.

This all changed once I got accepted into the Tublian Open Source Internship in December. This internship gave me the tools and knowledge I needed to succeed in open source.

I have been able to contribute to projects such as BioDrop by the EddieHubCommunity. You can check out my merged pull request here.

I also joined the Digitomize community and started contributing to the documentation. You can check out the documentation here.

What's next for me?

Building.

Building...

And even more building.

In 2024, I am embracing the spirit of building in public. I will continue growing my skills and expertise as I land opportunities to apply my skills.

To bigger and better wins in 2024!✨