As 2022 came to the end and 2023 began, it is a perfect chance to reflect on 2022, talk about 2023 plans, and officially kick off my developer blog. 🙂
2022: A year of many firsts
In 2022, I had a few clear goals with the main one being growth. I am a young developer who is 29 years old, but I always knew that I want to go bigger. My main goals were:
Become a Senior Software Engineer
Improve with hobby photography and a new camera
Visit at least five new places and 1 new country
Talk at least one conference
Be more active
But, my goals got even bigger.
From Here to Quack: A Shift in 2022 Direction
Flapping into the New Year: Focus on Health
This year, I decided to prioritize my health and well-being by incorporating regular walks and other physical activities into my routine. I've also started to combine my hobbies and exercise by bringing my camera on my walks.
In January, I applied to be a speaker at the DevOps.JS conference organized by GitNation and Focus Reactive. I was accepted with a talk called The Lazy Developer Guide: How to Automate Code Updates, a topic that I am particularly knowledgeable in. I'm excited to present a topic that goes beyond an introduction and demonstrates how to combine various concepts to achieve powerful results.
DevOps.JS conference
February was quieter and I was preparing my session for DevOps.JS which was happening online on March 24-25. It would be cool to travel, but hopefully next time. 🙂
My session went extremely well and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to present on a topic that I am passionate about and share my insights with others. The conference as a whole was a great success, with a variety of interesting talks and even an online after-party where we all had a blast playing Pictionary. I met awesome people like Anuradha Kumari, Natalia Venditto, and Konstantinos Leimonis and I am very much looking forward to hopefully meeting them in person in 2023. 💪
Mentoring, Tacos, and Enchiladas: A Match Made in Heaven
Over the next few months, I've had the opportunity to focus on education and mentorship, as well as work on a big and exciting project with my team members where we created a new Navigation for Infobip's Web Interface. In April, May, and June, I participated in the selection process for the Infobip Summer Student Internship as a mentor, conducting reviews and interviews with the candidates. We ended up finding really talented interns. Unfortunately, I also caught COVID in late April and spent a week recovering. While it took me a while to get back to my normal level of energy, it didn't stop me from pursuing my goals.
In May, I attended my second conference in 2022: BeJS 2022 conference in Brussels, Belgium. It was a great experience even though I wasn't able to physically attend due to COVID. This year on Infobip Shift 2022 I also met Aymen Ben Amor who is the founder of BeJS and the main organizer. 💪
Then, I traveled to the Infobip office in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was so amazing and I was pretty excited as it was my first time in Mexico. I was able to meet everyone, share my knowledge and educate everyone there. I also explored Amsterdam during the 6-hour layover. I was nearly late for my flight 😅, but I can't wait to come again to Amsterdam!
I also had the opportunity to try a wide variety of Mexican food including tacos, see Lucha Libre live, visit the city of Tequila and learn about how it is made, and explore Guadalajara and Tlaquepaque. I bought so many awesome souvenirs and I can't wait to visit Mexico again and see my viejones. 💪
A Road Trip Through 8 Countries: My Most Ambitious Vacation Yet
In June, I embarked on a crazy road trip through 8 countries with stops in Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, and Croatia. I visited beautiful Budapest and Balaton, Košice and Slovakia's Slovak Paradise and High Tatras, Poland and Krakow, Wieliczka and Auschwitz. Then, I visited the Austrian Alps, Hallstatt and Gollinger waterfall, Bled and Bohinj in Slovenia, Italy and Padova, Venezia, and Trieste. Then, I enjoyed a few days in Istria and went partying with friends. I got a chance to talk at meetups in Košice, Katowice, and then Zagreb immediately after my trip. I really loved exploring all of these incredible places.
Quack-tivating the Next Generation: Summer as Educator and Mentor
July, August, and September were about the Infobip Summer Student Internship as I was one of the 2 main educators and a mentor for my team of amazing students. It was an awesome experience with a lot of talented interns. I am the type of person who is always approachable and friendly as I think that it helps people feel more natural and relaxed, so naturally, I became very good friends with some of the interns I was educating and mentoring. I am really happy that a big amount of them decided to stay and I think that they will be really good developers.
In June, I applied as a speaker for Build Stuff 2022 conference where I later was a speaker with my topic called Continuous Localization in Enterprise Web Systems.
A Busy Fall: Speaking at Conferences and Exploring New Places
In mid-September, my third 2022 conference was React Finland 2022 where I held a session last year. I had a chance to hear interesting topics and catch up with Juho Vepsäläinen (the main organizer of React Finland) who I know for a few years, and finally meet my friend Juhis in person. I was especially very excited to see my favorite speaker friends - David and Jenny, and to meet the awesome Farzad.
I finally met Sara Vieira in person after she was an MC on my session, and more faces in person like Jani Eväkallio who took us for awesome food, Adam Juran, Joonas, m4dz, Kadi Kraman, Nicolai Süper, Ryan Carniato, Oliver, Nik Graf, Matsu, Norbert de Langen, Finn Kristian Jørstad, Dan Filip Solberg (Mr. Random 💪), Kaspar Naaber, Inga Grgić. I think that networking and connecting with people is a very important part, so I was really happy that I met these amazing people. 😄
Before React Finland, I embarked on a city-hopping tour that took me to Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tallinn, and briefly Riga at the airport. Even though I went from 30°C to 12°C and even 6-7°C, it was an amazing experience and I loved getting the chance to visit this part of Europe. I took lots of great photos that I can't wait to share on Instagram. 😍
Then it was time for Infobip Shift 2022 conference in Zadar, Croatia, where I had a chance to hear great talks and catch up with speakers I know like Kent C. Dodds and Vitaly Friedman. I loved meeting amazing speakers like Debbie O'Brien (with who I shared the stage at Build Stuff 2022 conference) and Kitze who had 2 amazing talks. Even though I didn't apply as a speaker this year, I always love coming to this conference. 😍
In October I returned to speaking and gave a talk at Infobip's Dev Days 2022 conference with a topic ironically called I Hate (Web) Development which is about the bad sides of Web development. It was a challenging but ultimately successful session that taught me a lot of new things about conference speaking and helped me become bolder in my presentations. 💪 It was also one of the highest-attended and best-rated sessions at the conference.
Build Stuff 2022
In November, I had the opportunity to speak at Build Stuff 2022 conference in Vilnius, Lithuania with my session called Continuous Localization in Enterprise Web Systems. I told a story about implementing Continuous Localization from the beginning to how we were inspired by micro-frontends to make Continuous Localization work independently. It was a big success and I received a lot of positive feedback from attendees who participated in the session. 😍 I also had the chance to meet many other attendees. Overall, this conference was a great experience and a big success for me.
It was an absolute pleasure to meet many amazing, talented, and kind speakers in Vilnius. Special shoutout to the amazing main organizer Neringa who took us speakers everywhere in Vilnius, Skaiste, Paulina, and Kamilė without who we wouldn't have this conference. I also loved catching up with Cassandra, Eleftheria Batsou, and Debbie O'Brien and meeting Dr. Joe Perez, Dennie, Katie, Sohan, Serg, Elizabeth, Hannes, Inessa, Adele, René, Lars, Dona, Francesco, Vagif, Lode, Max, Arthur, Stacy, Nico, Håkan with who I had an awesome time exploring Vilnius and Trakai, Bobur who is a really great person and probably one of the speakers I have befriended the most, Angelique, Eldert, David, Mary who is so nice and supportive and a really good friend to everyone, Dylan, Glenn, Saloni, Kevlin, Jezen who is also a hobby photographer like me and with who I loved exchanging the photography tips, Matheus, and many more! 💪💪
A big shoutout to the amazing attendees I had the pleasure of meeting like Maciej, Robertas, Gaivile, Vytautas, Ernestas, Nicolai, Ferdinand, Greta, Vitaliy, and more. It was wonderful to connect with everyone, and I'm so glad to have received such positive feedback about my easygoing and extroverted personality. I only wish I had met all of these wonderful people earlier, as it would have been amazing to hang out with them on my travels.
Finishing 2022 strong
In late November, I co-organized JavaScript Zagreb Meetup together with Vedran Blaženka for the first time at Infobip's Alpha Centauri Campus. It was a huge success, with a turnout of around 80 attendees, making it the highest-attended meetup in a while. I shared the stage with Ante Barić and I publicly presented my topic I Hate (Web) Development. It was an incredible experience to meet and connect with all the attendees, and I hope to see them at future meetups!
December was spent partying and recharging, but I have prepared a lot of interesting things for 2023!
2022 overall
Overall, I am incredibly happy with 2022. I didn't apply for a lot of conferences as I was trying to organize my time for other priorities, but I got into 3 conferences out of 4 where I applied (2 in person) which is a great result. 💪
While I didn't manage to meet all my goals for 2022, I am not too concerned as I knew what my priorities were and why I was making certain choices. Additionally, anything that I put on hold during 2022 can always be revisited.
What's coming up in 2023?
In 2023, my focus is still on growth as a developer, speaker, and mentor. I have officially launched my dev blog and I am planning to write regularly with Infobip Developers. I have at least 1 or 2 articles coming very soon. I am also excited about sharing my knowledge at 2 student internship programs. Additionally, I want to speak at 5 or more conferences (at least 4 in person) and work on my physical fitness. Overall, it's going to be a year of growth, balance, and development.
Next, I am a speaker at Build Stuff meetup online on January 26 from 7:00 PM CET. My topic is called Code Updates: 100+ Projects in 1 Hour? Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy! You can register here: CLICK.
Additionally, I was invited to participate in a Twitch live stream with one of the developer advocates from the USA with who I shared the stage at one of the conferences, so expect more soon. 😄