2024: A Rollercoaster of a Year

This year has been nothing short of interesting—a wild mix of stepping out of my comfort zone, exploring backend development, job hunting, attending hackathons, contributing to open-source projects, and leveling up both my soft and hard skills. It’s been a whirlwind filled with happiness, challenges, and unexpected twists.

First up, I finally gathered the courage to apply for a new job, aiming for better pay and career growth. Things were looking great—I impressed the hiring manager and was this close to landing a spot at a big company. Then boom—tech layoffs and hiring freezes hit right on cue. Just my luck. To top it off, my work bestie resigned, leaving me feeling lonely and uncertain about the future. It caught me off guard since he left before his performance review, which made the whole thing feel bittersweet. Soon, more colleagues were either resigning or wrapping up their internships. Lunch breaks that were once lively became just me, myself, and I.

On a brighter note, Hacktoberfest 2024 was an absolute blast! This time around, I dived into real projects instead of settling for random dummy repos just to hit my four contributions. I met amazing online friends and mentors who made the whole experience unforgettable.

Hacktoberfest 2024: A Two-Year Transformation in My Development Journey

Lai Kok Wui ・ Oct 17 '24

#devchallenge #hacktoberfestchallenge #hacktoberfest #opensource

Then there’s my love-hate relationship with React Native. I’ll admit it—I had major trauma just looking at React because I used to overthink how tough it was. Plus, there was always that fear of disappointing my senior. He was never quite satisfied with my code, calling it too complicated, but honestly? His super simple code looked like a bug magnet to me. That’s why I added extra complexity to avoid potential issues. Fast forward to now, I’ve improved a lot. My code doesn't upset him as much anymore (though he still finds something to gripe about—but hey, that’s his problem!). React’s flexibility in code structure was tricky to manage, especially since my senior wasn’t great at reading code unless it matched his style. But hey, I survived collaborating with him and came out stronger!

Beyond work, I traveled a ton and enjoyed some much-needed breaks from coding life. I know, I know—"programmers are supposed to be glued to their screens 24/7," right? Nah, taking time off is essential, especially when debugging life is already a full-time challenge. On top of that, I geeked out over some cool new tech toys: the latest iPad with an Apple Pencil, a giant Android "phone" that’s basically a kiosk TV, a shiny new Mac Mini, a modded GameBoy, and of course, a sleek MacBook. Because hey, if you're going to take breaks, might as well do it with style and some cool gadgets in hand!

Looking back, 2024 was a wild ride of happy, sad, lonely, crazy, and surprising moments. Here’s to hoping 2025 is just as interesting (and maybe with fewer work hiccups). Thanks for reading my story—I know it’s not a blockbuster, but it’s real. Here’s to making next year even better! 🎉

This is a submission for the 2025 New Year Writing challenge: Retro’ing and Debugging 2024.

cover image is generated by AI to better understand my story.