2020 has been a great year personally.
Yes, I really wrote that. And I mean every word of it.
2020 has also been a very, very challenging year on the soul.
Years from now, I suspect that if you ask a thousand people alive today what they remember about 2020, you’ll get ten thousand different answers. Most will be more than happy to have seen it end, no doubt, and that includes me.
But 2020 has been a great year personally, with just over a week to go that almost certainly won’t change that. Even better is that in the new year, there is a world of potential, as if the best of both worlds has happened.
In many recent years, reflecting on the year that is ending around this time has had me thinking more times than not that it was an okay or good year, or perhaps even “blah,” but in each case I felt the stage was set for the year ahead to be one with a lot of potential. Each year has been better, but not by an overly discernible amount – I say that because the feeling was similar. I didn’t feel like I was reflecting on a great year, but one where a lot of potential was ahead. I felt like there was more to look forward to than to look back on.
2020 is no such year. This year, I find myself with both positive feelings.
Let’s start with this being a year where a lot of great things happened. My day job has been great, including a change to where I’m now doing work I enjoy even more once again and with more of it being ahead. I have joined the New Hampshire Tech Alliance and look forward to being part of many great things through it in a tech industry here that has lots of as-yet untapped potential. I attended several great conferences that were held virtually and at quite affordable costs and completed eight online technical courses. I made many amazing connections personally and professionally.
And there is more. But you get the idea: despite a few things not happening that I had hoped, largely because of the pandemic, this year is a quite satisfying one. And that is despite the fact that this year saw the time come to sunset Hoopville after a long run with many memories, a decision that years ago would have been unthinkable.
I am blessed to have not suffered directly from the coronavirus. I have not had the disease or had an immediate family member come down with it, and my job has been relatively unchanged save for a stretch of having to work from home about 80 percent of the time. Seeing so many people come down with the virus and die from it, along with the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd – the other big story of the year – was very hard on the soul and remains so as both stories are ongoing.
In all, though, I exit 2020 and enter 2021 feeling like so much is possible. I feel emboldened to grow technically, especially on some technologies that have been on my radar for a while but haven’t been able to take priority in my learning and growth. I feel emboldened to make a difference in the technology industry between being part of the NH Tech Alliance, as well as the Black Technology Mentorship Program and being invited to meet people as they complete a coding bootcamp to change careers, or at least change direction in their careers. With a vaccine now here, I feel like there will be more great connections made that will add to the potential to harness.
There is so much to look forward to.
Many great things are happening on the job. I enjoyed what I did in the first year or so, but now I am doing work I really want to do – embedded software, dealing with the operating system and hardware. There is a sizable learning curve largely because of the overall scope, but the environment is great and I feel emboldened to really go after some subject areas that are part of my work now and are likely to be later, especially with the support I have on my immediate team and with others I deal with.
I grew immensely outside the office. I was on a roll with courses, mostly via Udemy, and attending the Embedded Online Conference, Embedded Linux Conference/Open Source Summit and IoT Online Conference gave me more such opportunities. That these were virtual change the game, and I even got to attend INBOUND – not exactly a conference for engineers, but a great experience all the same as it was virtual. Startup Boston Week went virtual, and I checked out a number of sessions live and connected with some people all the same. Hopefully more conferences at least have a virtual option going forward – I would never have been able to attend the Embedded Linux Conference/Open Source Summit (they are run together by the Linux Foundation) in person since it is normally held far from the Boston area. It was through this that I learned of the Black Technology Mentorship Program, in fact.
There is much to be excited about in related things outside of the office. From the potential I see with what the NH Tech Alliance to the BTMP, to the potential to get LinkedInLocal Manchester going again with vaccines for COVID-19 in place, as well as the many connections I have made with people who are making things happen, it feels as though the sky is the limit for what can happen.
For once, it feels like the best combination of a great year and great potential is ahead. But here’s also hoping that the latter will be a little easier on the soul than the former was.