Starting this article gave me the opportunity to reflect on the best and worst way I spent the year 2020. I had so many deep thoughts reflecting on how far I have come and also how much I learned in the year everyone wrote off as one of the worst years they ever experienced.
The year 2020 taught me a great deal and I grew so much in my personal development that when I look back, I can't help but wish there would be another 2020.
Now before you go off and criticize me, read this article to the end to better understand the awesome lessons 2020 taught me and how it shaped me technically and otherwise.
The pandemic opportunity.
In my home country Nigeria, the pandemic became very serious around the month of March and that was when the government declared a total lockdown of offices, shops, churches, schools amongst other places in the country that can draw a crowd.
To so many people it was a shutdown, a bad omen, a legit excuse to quit, blame the government for failing the people, and also a good reason to turn to fraud. It was easy to blame others and look for shortcuts to survive. In fact, no one would blame you for becoming a bad guy given the hardship in the country.
At that same time, I just finished my first internship with Dathappy (remote) as a junior machine learning engineer. I had so many gigs coming my way from friends but I couldn't take any. The problem was that those gigs were centered around web development and I knew next to nothing about web development at the time. Did I say I knew nothing about web development? well, I lied.
During my internship with Dathappy we ( me and my team) had to build a front-end for our machine learning model using the python framework Flask to abstracts away the technicalities for our clients during the beta testing. That was when I realized the importance of having a software engineering skill as a machine learning engineer especially if you are going to be working for start-ups.
So while others were looking for shortcuts, I was looking for a way to skill up and become a better developer. I understood that I might not have all the time to myself again once the pandemic blows over. In all the options available, I chose to grow my technical skills.
Understanding self
After my internship with Dathappy which ended around March, I knew the next thing on my radar was to learn front-end development. What I couldn't figure out was how I can achieve that while staying focused.
Being a self-taught developer I knew I could dedicate my time to learning the technologies involved and within a few months, I would be blazing hot as a web developer. Building beautiful websites and taking gigs. As easy as it was to think about the journey I was about to embark on, I knew right away that I wouldn't reach my destination without a push and so I started looking for a web development internship.
The Genesys Opportunity
In the year 2019, while I was still in my 2nd year as a mechanical engineering student, I applied to become a frontend intern at a company called Genesys. It wasn't surprising that I was rejected at my first trial.
Even though so many factors surrounded the rejection, one I can vividly point out was my unpreparedness and also some obligations I had as a university student. But I still didn't fail to try my luck.
Now with the total lockdown in place, I was presented with another opportunity to reapply as a remote frontend intern in the same company which later went on to become my one the best decision I have made so far.
I applied and after the rigorous interviews, I was accepted as an intern. It wasn't easy at all in grasping all the knowledge they tried to pass to us. It was even much harder because it was a remote role and therefore we had to learn a lot on our own. We built some pet projects on the go as we progressed. Some were fun while we had a lot of difficulties figuring out some. Well, no one said programming was easy.
In the space of four months down the line, I have already had hands-on experience with HTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT, and even the frontend framework REACTJS. To top it off, I learned how to collaborate with team members. It was rather a blessing in disguise for me because if my school was in session, I wouldn't have had the time to fully participate as an intern.
Becoming a DSC Lead
Developer Student Clubs are university-based community groups for students interested in Google developer technologies. Students from all undergraduate or graduate programs with an interest in growing as a developer are welcome. By joining a DSC, students grow their knowledge in a peer-to-peer learning environment and build solutions for local businesses and their community.
Becoming the leader of a community like this was great prestige. I applied the previous year 2019 but was rejected. I felt like I had the world on my shoulders. But the difference this time was that instead of the world, It was the reputation of my school on my shoulders. I will be building a lot of people up to make them become better individuals and also to help them become job-ready after school.
At first, I couldn't figure the best way to go. I knew I wouldn't go far if I wanted to push the community alone all by myself. So I formed a core team who have been supporting me through the journey as a leader.
Summary.
I don't think I can put 366 days in just an article so let me quickly highlight some of my wins and losses that made my 2020.
- I got a Data Analyst Nanodegree from Udacity
- I completed My Machine Learning Internship and earn my first money as a programmer
- I started my web development journey as a frontend engineer
- Became a mentor in Google Africa Developer Scholarship
- I got rejected for a job at Grafana labs
- Missed out on Google Associate Cloud EngineerIng certification for the second time in a role
- I became the DSC lead after my first rejection
- I became an ingressive for good (I4G) lead
- I became a barter Ambassador
Note: Success and failure are measured by the goals you set for yourself so set new goals for yourself and try as much as you can to smash them.
In summary, it was an interesting year for me. Some days Ieft me depressed, some left me happy. But in all, I am thankful for the lessons I have learned and the awesome friends I made in 2020. We move again this year 2021. Happy new year!!!!