2018—The Year in Review
Let’s talk about 2018. This happens to be my first year in review. I am reflecting on my past year, not only to share with others but more importantly to keep a track for myself. I want to be able to weigh and evaluate myself in the future, to know where I come from and how far I have come. With that said, let’s start with the review. ✌
🤔 An Year to Remember
2018 was a great year for me. I got to learn and experience a lot, which has certainly made me more capable than I was before. A lot of things changed this year, my life took a new turn. So much so that 2018 will always remain one of the most significant years of my life.
🙇♀️ A Busy One
In the first two quarters of this year, I was as busy as a beaver. With high school graduation and entrance tests of universities at hand, there were a lot of things on my plate. There was a lot of grinding and hustling, but it was all worth it. 😀
🙌 I Started University
Yes, the most important thing that happened in 2018, was the start of university life. I have always had an enthusiasm for software, and with that in mind, I applied to a bunch of top tier universities of the country. They included UET, FAST, ITU, COMSATS, NUST, IST and more. Alhumdulilah, I was blessed enough to be selected in all of them. 🙌
I weighed the pros and cons of each university and just chose what suited me the best. I knew that what matters in computer science are your own skills. So I got into the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore. I am enrolled in the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department, and I’m pretty happy with my decision.
WordPress
Like now, I was trying to learn as much as possible in 2018. WordPress remained in my focus. I learned the development of themes and coded a few plugins as well. It was a demanding learning curve, but I will recommend it for every beginner developer trying to find a medium to start from.
JavaScript
Another target in 2018 was to get a grasp on JavaScript. I took Brian Holt‘s course on FrontEndMasters which was an introduction to Web Development. It covered HTML, CSS and more importantly JavaScript which I was interested in. As a beginner in JavaScript, it helped a lot and gave me the start I just needed.
React.js
Next up, I decided to learn React.js, and that is what I am doing these days, hoping to cover it soon. I am taking a couple of awesome React courses on EggHead.io and FrontEndMasters (including one from B.Holt, again). In other news, my tweet got mentioned in their website. 😍
🤷♂️ I Switched to Linux
After messing around for some time with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), I figured that it was the need of time to switch to Linux. I am getting used to Linux, and so far I love it. Although WSL is promising and Windows 10 has improved many things, but it still needs more refinement IMO. 👀
🗣 Meetups
In October, I attended a Git and JAMstack conference by TheDevCouple team called TheOpenDevCon which went great. I wrote about it here. Give it a read.
In 2018, I completed my second Hacktoberfest challenge which is always fun.🙃
That is it from 2018. I am positive about 2019 being a decisively successful year for me. Fingers crossed! 🤞