We humans measure our lives in units of years and I have survived another one! While I don’t celebrate the occasion in the traditional sense (fireworks & parties), New Year’s is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the past year and how it will inform the next year’s decisions. I have attempted organize my loose thoughts around personal and professional areas, so here I go:

Personal Development

2018 brought a lot of changes — it seemed like I finally started applying the fixes to the long-identified problems. It wasn't easy to get to this point and I owe it to my close friends and family - my true supporters for all they do.

I changed my major, from Computer Engineering to Industrial & Operations Engineering. It was a long and turbulent decision process but looking back, it was for the right decision. I realized that not pursuing my old major doesn’t disqualify me from the future I want, and that my new major was a better fit for me anyway!

I got things organized! Over 200 gigabytes of digital data, 3D models, designs, development projects, photos, thoughts and ideas. I adopted a Kanban system (think Trello) into my workflow to help organize all my tasks and reminders. I built a personal wiki to store all my knowledge about various topics in a way that was relevant, easy to search and meaningful.

I adopted a healthier lifestyle. I cut the amount of junk food I consumed, consulted experts and learned how to cook healthy meals. After a stint with Huel for a few months, I bought a slow cooker and enjoyed some great meals! I realized I love to cook and share food — especially new recipes.

Ryan Holiday’s Daily Stoic introduced me to the philosophy of Stoicism in a modern context. I have journaled for years but the framework and resources around the philosophy gave the journaling a new purpose. In 2018, I finally took time to stop and take a breath and ask fundamental questions about why I do the things I do.

Professional Development

2018 was full of change and exiting opportunities professionally. I would joke that I got LinkedIn premium but many more exciting things happened.

I quit my job as a Resident Advisor at the University of Michigan. I had put in a lot of work to pilot a new themed community for students interested in entrepreneurship. I learned a lot from the job, especially about myself. It was a great experience but I realized that I wasn’t being honest with myself about what I wanted from the job. I finished out the school year and built many amazing relationships with my colleagues and students in my hall and for that I am thankful.

This summer I interned at Fleetilla, an IoT telematics company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The friendly folks welcomed me and gave me support and a platform to improve my skills. I was exposed to lots of cloud computing and gained insight into the transportation and logistics industry. I grew immensely as a developer and was able to experiment with various emerging technologies, build prototypes and directly impact the direction of the products.

I also wrapped up my involvement with the University of Michigan Intelligent Ground Vehicle team. I started this team in 2016 so it was tough to let go but it made sense to empower others to step up and lead for the sake of the team’s sustainability. Having achieved my goal of building a sustainable team and getting us to competition, I bid adieu to the team that empowered much of my personal and professional development over the last two years. The hardest part about leaving was losing the opportunity to work with the amazing people I had come to know.

At the end of the summer, optiMize approached me to join the organization on the backend. As an optiMize fellow of 2017, I was already involved in the community as a mentor. This new role allowed me to advise students on their different projects, as a dedicated resource for students in the Social Innovation Challenge. One day I would discuss team building strategies, prototyping on another day, and walk through technical architecture on the next day, all with different teams at different stages. I became a better person because of this opportunity — less cynical and more optimistic. The students I met inspired me by dedicating their time to improving the world around them.

Onwards to 2019

As I write this, I can only imagine what the next year will bring. Here are a few things I look forward to in 2019:

I hope to strengthen the relationships I have today by prioritizing spending quality time with those around me.

I look forward to writing more code; learning and build some impactful projects that will create value for their users. Along that line, I want to learn more about cloud computing, especially micro-service architecture, backends and deploying software. I am open to suggestions for resources on learning more about cloud computing.

This one is a bit challenging. I want to improve the quality of my writing (both personal and public) and write more for specific audiences.

I wish to continue to live healthy. I want to keep up the progress of healthy eating habits I picked up this year and focus on consistent exercise next. I want to run my first marathon in 2019!

As I look forward to graduating in 2019, I hope to better manage my finances and pay close attention to my spending habits and improve them over time. I also want to better understand money mechanics and the financial systems.

Last of all, I am committing to living in the moment next year; for me that means savoring the small joys life bestows.

That being said, farewell to 2018 and hello to 2019 — Happy New Year!