2021: A New Beginning to an Old Story
2020 feels like yesterday, yet 2022 only feels like its only a few seconds away. Such has been the story for most of us, living the past two years on the fast lane, trying out new things, switching jobs, traveling, exploring ourselves in ways we wouldn’t have thought of before the pandemic. Kudos to every single one of us, we made it.
October 20, 2020 has become an historic day for my generation, albeit for all the wrong reasons, yet it was on that day that I made my resolution to leave Nigeria the following year. As per my last medium post, The Long Walk Back To The Bay Uber or Apple, I ended 2020 on a great note; almost identical to my 2021 ending, but we will get to that in due time.
It was nostalgic returning to the U.S following my departure four(4) years earlier in 2017. Reconnecting and finding refuge with old friends, eating Chinese Buffet, going to McDonald’s, everything had a memory attached it. It was a different feeling from when I arrived earlier in 2014, this time, it felt like an escape, I was leaving with little hope of returning; this was the reality that was forced on me by our reality in Nigeria. A few days after I arrived, I had settled in and started my graduate studies. Being back in school wasn’t what I expected. I can’t be working on assignments at midnight 😭 I can’t possibly have assignments and quizzes due on Sunday at11:59PM, what is this? I am not 19! 😭😭😭 Why did I forget going to school meant I had to study? This wasn’t going as I expected; advanced data structures and algorithms was kicking me from behind while Machine Learning was dealing with me from behind…I was not having it easy. Glad I got through that semester, whew, barely maintained my grades too. Reality check.
Moving on.
Here comes the bad news.
I did not go to Uber as insinuated by my post from 2020, not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t. Following my arrival, I was informed that I needed to complete a full academic year of studies before I can resume full time as an intern during the summer…what a bummer!!! Ah!!! It did not sit well with me. Me and my homeboys were not pleased. Soon I had gotten over it, nothing was going to affect my summer. If I wasn’t going to Uber, I may as well have fun all summer. And so I did. We went camping, yes, I slept outside all night. We went to the beach, we spent late nights out, we lived young, wild, and free.
Uh! I started keeping my hair. While it was a decision that was long in the making, I wasn’t sure what would come out of it. Dare I say it turned out somewhat great…I think.
Without going into details, I tried a couple of “things” during the summer as well. I got contracted at top edtech company (good chance you know them), I have some code in production, I worked for an AI based discount and customer incentive startup, and I met someone very important for the first time since 2017. My summer was active, to say the least. How do I top this in 2022? Guess we have to wait to find out.
No. I did not find my special someone this year. We try again next year; just like we did this year. I fell and got up a couple of times (hard luck), it was either the wrong place or the wrong time. But I am grateful for these experiences, I grew because of them. In all things, GROW. We try again in 2022. I may not have found my special someone — if she exists, but I found something else. I made a brother.
A story for another day, which will be appropriately titled “Life and Times of Dan and Richard”, exploring all the memories, and shared experiences of myself and Danny (I am the only one who calls him Dan around here).
While I did not change my job, I did increase increase net by 3–4x. I learned that asides from building products and solving problems, I loved leading and building teams. I found joy in managing people, liaising with stakeholders, and product planning. I got to see some of the people I mentored succeed in a plethora of ways; one of them rejoined me and I couldn’t be more proud of his growth. The teacher has become the student. I am looking forward to next year, and excited about all the awesome things we will build as a team. The sweetest compliments these year have all been surrounding how good a team I’ve built, and my contributions to the culture on the engineering team and the company in general. I do love working in an environment where everyone feels welcome and happy to do their best work…I hope I get to do this more in 2022.
Okay, confession, I picked up a new hobby. I can’t tell if it is the quality of the mirrors, the quality of my camera, or my new found narcism, but I can’t help myself whenever I see a mirror. I have taken more mirror pictures this year than I’ve taken all the previous years combined. I mean, take a look at this, you would be tempted too!
“Congratulations. You have accepted your offer”.
Yes. I accepted an offer to join Microsoft as a SWE intern for the summer of 2022. Already off to a great start, I know! Almost exactly a year following my offers to join Uber and Apple, I was able to convince yet another company that I am worth some sort of value to them. This isn’t a story of all good news, I had failed my Facebook interviews — same as last year. However, they weren’t bad interviews; I enjoyed each and everyone of them. This is my prerogative in every interview that I partake in. I am looking forward to all that I’ll learn, and building for millions of users.
Graduate school hasn’t been all bad. I’ve learned new skills and tools, I’ve made new connections, but most importantly, I have found a new drive to chase a future that wasn’t possible before graduate school. As the year drew closer to the end, I drew closer to defining my idea for the future of food, food logistics, and our kitchen. This is one of the reasons I am excited for 2022 and 2023. Watch out.
They said a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, I have taken that step in 2021, over to you 2022. We will make mistakes but we will learn and grow because of them. We will fall a thousand times, and rise each time (perhaps after taking a break) and try again because the one thing we will not do is give up. We had Ls and we had Ws in 2021, we can expect the same in 2022. Similarly, we will end it on a good note because why not? What other choice exists?
My favorite songs from 2021 are based on their quarters. In Q1, I played Chi Chi by Naira Marley, our president non-stop. In late Q1 to Q2, Next to Me by Imagine Dragons gave me peace and serenity. Rock by Olamide was my go to song for the summer, it felt good for very occasion that it was played. Someone brought Big Thug Boys and Ozumba Mbadiwe as late entries to close out the year.
I didn’t watch movies a lot, not out of my own volition but primarily due to me being busy all year round. However, I did see Narcos, it is a great show. Totally loved Pablo. I also completed Naruto, a journey that began in 2021; at least we closed one thing eh? Honorable mention are all my Netflix cartoons (F is For Family and Big Mouth).
Over to you 2022. Show us what you’ve got.
Cheers.
