Hey friends, it’s been a very long time. The year 2020 has been overwhelming. Nobody expected anything that happened this year, from the mind-blowing pandemic that shook the whole world(which also gave me the time to cross into tech), to the #endsars protests that resulted into killing of peaceful protesters that happened on 10/10/20 in Nigeria. I thought long and hard then concluded I had to write again. Here is my story.

God

I am grateful for every bit of the journey through 2020. God helped me and kept me through because 2020 would have ruined me. God came through for me and he is the only reason I’m writing.

Family.

My 2020 wouldn’t have been complete without my family. I also want to thank my mum, dad and brothers for tolerating my excesses and say I love you. Honestly, my family is one of nature’s masterpieces.

School.

As much as I would like to say that I spent a large part of the year in school, I wouldn’t because it did not turn out as planned. The session started with me moving into a new room with amazing roommates, catching up with lectures, and all of that till we approached the middle of the semester where my life turned south. Everything became overwhelming for me, from attending classes to submitting assignments and term papers, spending more than six hours in the Laboratory while standing doing God-knows-what. It felt like I was drowning in my bottomless pit with no one to save me. I was feeling wasted and started burning out. I was always crying daily and I wanted to run away from it all. In my opinion, schooling in Nigeria is depressing.

This year has taught me that God is in love with me, I mean he’s head over heels and crazily obsessed with me. Take it from me when I say God loves you too. Amidst my depression and despair, the Academic Staff Union Of Universities(ASUU) in my country decided to go on a two weeks warning strike. What this meant was two weeks of sleeping, eating and doing nothing. The amazing love of God! God knew if I continued like that I was either going to fail or defer the semester and he was having none of that. The strike enabled me to get myself back together, plan and re-strategize. Immediately after the strike, the pandemic break commenced, which made me happy.

Friends

I came into the year 2020 with a good number of amazing friends. I lost some, thankfully not to death, but the friendship vibe didn’t last. In my dairy, I wrote that I would try to go out more and meet people. I met some beautiful souls and more this year.

Olawuwo Adeseun Taiwo: If awesomeness had a face, it would be yours. I’m so blessed to have met you this year and you’ll always have a special place in my heart.

Tantoluwa Alabi Heritage: I’m short of words and super grateful we met. You always pull me along, cheer me up, and always made sure we solved every problem together. I love you so much girl.

Livingston: My Twitter mentor who turned to a friend and personal hype man. I’m happy our path crossed. You’re a rare one.

Omogbolahan Yusuf: We officially met during the strike and he started tutoring me and helping me out. You knew something was wrong with me and always tried your best to calm my academic fears. The pandemic break separated us because we had to leave school. One day while I was running errands, I ran into Yusuf, and fortunately for me Yusuf and I live close to each other. From then on, Yusuf would always come to my house to teach thermodynamics. Yusuf, you’re God-sent. Thank you!

Akinjobi Olamilekan: Thank for always for pushing me to be the version of myself and always telling me that hard work pays. You’re a real one.

I am also happy I met Selfless LordGhostX, Bami Ogunfemi, Isreal, Fortune, Anthony, Temitayo, Tobi, Iyiola, Dele, Adeyemo Caleb, Tomiwa, Ameerat, Jideguru, Samuel, Kamal, John Paul, Adeyemi, Olamide, Olanrewaju and many others I met this year. My 2020 wouldn’t have been complete without you guys.

Of course, this piece is grossly incomplete without due acknowledgement of friends who have been a crucial part of my sojourn before 2020.

Oluwayanmike: My best friend(even if the Universe has sworn to keep us apart)thank you for not giving up on me.

Oluwatobilola Amarachi: Typing your name brought laughter to my face already, because that’s what you do best, you bring laughter to my life.

Demilade Daniel Coker: When counting my blessings, I’ll have to count you twice.

Caleb Opeyemi: Always so close, but yet distant. I love you.

Samuel: The one that ghosts on me, then comes back with good news.

Oluwatosin Kamiyole, Mr Toni Odelola, Hafeesat, Yomi, Dejiro, John and Philip Bakare, my AFCF family, Sis Anu, Abayomi Okeowo, Timothy, Bukola, my wonderful Alex and others. The future is indeed bright and I can’t wait to explore it together with you all. Hence, I hope we do more, learn more, and achieve more together. You all are the real MVP and I love you 3000.

Progress

After three months of learning HTML and CSS, the time came for me to start working on real-life projects. The first series of trials were not what I expected. I didn’t get the hang of it but as time went on, it became clear. I did a couple of projects(that did not include CSS positioning) then I thought I was ready to start Java script. I got inspired by my friends who were building projects HTML and CSS. So I decided to focus on CSS from October till the end of 2020 in a bid to master it.

Community

I flipped through the new year resolution I made at the start of 2020 and I must say, it has been a tough year, but I achieved 60 per cent of my resolutions regardless. A section of my resolution was for meeting people and belonging to a community. My leap into tech made that possible because I found myself in some amazing tech communities like Developers Students Club, She Code Africa Unilag chapter. These two communities made me feel like I was a part of something because they were always ready to help. They held different workshops and seminars aimed at helping its members. One of the workshop I benefited from the most was the Git and Github workshop. I look forward to working, learning and giving back to the community in the coming year.

Lessons.

-This year, I have learnt that everything you and I want, is on the other side of fear and consistency.

-I’ll never take my friends for granted again. In a similar vein, 2020 has helped me realize that my friends are the things that make my world go round. And when I’ve felt at my lowest, my friends have been there with a pandemic-related meme, a book or a movie recommendation. Every interaction with them has brought a refreshed excitement for post-pandemic life.

-Life is too short to hold on to grudges. I have the memory of an elephant, and so I find it really hard to let go of a grudge when someone wrongs me. Even if I forgive, I won't forget easily. The universal grief we all felt this year jolted me into recognizing my pettiness and how little it really matters — of course, do not keep toxic or abusive people in your life, but if someone is just a messy human like we all are, do not keep a mental list stored of every time they’ve messed up.

-Mental health is not something to be ignored. Some of us have good mental health while some of us have bad mental health. But we all have mental health. and this year tested it like no other. I have lived with anxiety and depression but I had been trying best to manage it -but not being able to see my loved ones and go out whenever I wanted, all the coping mechanism I had developed crumbled. I know a lot of people were in the same boat. My constant fight became a crisis, and I had to start from scratch. Rebuilding myself brick by brick and finding new ways to cope. But sometimes it takes stillness to realize how much you’ve neglected your mental health.

-I didn’t panic- when it thought I would. I have always considered myself a nervous person; anxious through-and-through. I worry about getting ill, I worry about my parents getting ill, I worry about my friends getting ill. And that’s without a global pandemic. As such, if I had known what was coming, I’m fairly confident that my pre-pandemic self would have panicked.

-I do not need validation from anyone.

For me, this is the biggest lesson I’ll take away from 2020; that my preconceptions of myself are, often, wrong and I’m more than well equipped to handle whatever life throws at me. Most of what I worry about probably won’t happen, and the things that do happen? Well, they’re likely to be the scenarios I have never considered could, such as a global pandemic.

I hope you let all the failures of this past year be your best guide in the year to come.

Adios.