Of 2023, duh!
Caution: this may get cheesy.
2023 has been a wild rollercoaster ride for me. Although things in my personal life have gotten much better, my professional life it's still a mess, but it does bring me some sort of comfort to know that the reason why I haven't been able to find a job is because the market is shit!
But instead of focusing on the negatives, I will talk about the positive things I've achieved in 2023.
After failing out of college in my 20s, I decided that the only way to advance further in my career was by going back to school. I studied fashion design, worked as a photographer, and received a certificate from a bootcamp in software engineer, which at this point really means nothing. So I decided to go back to university and double major in Cybersecurity Technology and Software Development and Security, but I decided to change the latter to Management Information Systems. So far I have passed all my classes, except one, but as I like to say... we move!
I have also received the Security+, and CySA+ from CompTIA and next year I hope to pass Network+, Pentest+, and Server+.
I was able to attend a huge conference in Chicago (Kubecon). I got to explore the city, and be around other technologists, and even made it to the highlight reel for the conference (should I use this as the starting point of my YouTube career?). I also got to meet one of my internet friends in person!
Although I wasn't selected to be a summer intern, I did move to the final round of interviews at a huge Medtech company, and I know that I will be able to reach further than that in the coming year.
I landed an internship as a backend software developer at DefendEdge, and I have learned so much in one month of work than I could ever learn on my own. I'm forever grateful for this opportunity I've been given.
Last but not least, 2023 is the year the heavy veil of depression was lifted after 3 long years. Everything is full of color again, and I love life more than ever.
For 2024, I hope to continue growing, and learning.
I want to still focus on cloud, security, and software engineering. I want to keep challenging myself to work hard, and push past any feelings of inadequacy. I want to keep meeting others like me who are new to the field, that may not come from traditional backgrounds.
Some goals I have for myself in 2024:
Pass all my classes with at least Bs
Land a full-time job
Finish Jr Penetration Tester path on TryHackMe
Earn my CKA certification
Learn 8 different coding languages in 8 months
Finish setting up my home lab
and more
I hope that as the year comes to a close we all take a moment to appreciate the life we're living while keeping an eye on the bright future.