Year in Review - 2023 Edition
Tags: yearinreview, android, writing, a11y
Published: 2023-12-29 12:46:00

Another year, another Year in Review blog post! When I started listing things from 2023, I realized a lot had happened. And I probably don't even remember everything. 

I've written similar posts before, and you can find them from:
- [Year in Review - 2021 Edition][1]
- [Year in Review - 2022 Edition][2]

## Accomplishments

There are so many things I've accomplished this year. One of them is surviving through the year. It has been one of the most challenging years so far. But more about that later. 

My latest accomplishment was winning 2nd place in the WWCode App Deploy hackathon. I was so proud of the app, and even more proud when I got the letter that they selected my app as second best. If you want to know more about the app, I wrote a blog post: [How My App Won the 2nd Place in the WWCode App Deploy Hackathon][3]. 

Another thing I want to mention was completing the Women Developer Academy in October. I'm so happy about meeting all the people and getting to know them. I also can't wait for all the future conferences and other events where we'll meet in person! I wrote a blog post about my experiences: [Women Developer Academy Europe 2023 - My Experience][4]

During the fall, we organized a study group for learning Android with my colleague at Oura. It was for a Finnish organization called Mimmit Koodaa (Women Code would be the literal translation), and we got a great group of Android newbies joining us throughout the months. Even though fall turned out to be full of events and other things, I'm happy that we got to organize this study group. 

Another notable thing is that I was a guest on two podcasts: [Tech Talks with Madona][5] and [Women Who Code podcast][6]. It was so fun to record both of them! I recommend checking both podcasts out (not just the episodes I'm in); there are so many gems in the episodes. 

Finally, I'm Dev Top Author for the second year in a row! Dev has always been a dear community to me, as it has been so welcoming and inclusive, so this is an honor. 

## Speaking

In 2023, I did more in-person talks than last year. Most of the engagements were conferences, with a couple of meetups.

- Conferences:
	- Android Worldwide
	- Women Who Code Dev Summit - Mobile & Web
	- Droidcon Italy
	- KKON
	- Droidcon London
	- Saavuta 2023
- Meetups
	- Aurajoki Overflow
	- Accessibility Morning Mixer

I also had to cancel two talks: RN EU and DevFest Stockholm. 

Even though I enjoyed every talk I gave, the most meaningful were Droidcons. Those were both in person, and I got to travel to Turin and London, both for the very first time. Meeting everyone there made me really feel like I'm part of the Android community. And as they were in-person conferences, that facilitated some very interesting discussions. 

And there was one more thing: I've struggled a lot at work, feeling like I'm not seen as the professional I am, so being a speaker and having all those conversations felt great. 

Even though I didn't give that many talks last year, I'm happy about the ones I gave. So, it was a good year in terms of speaking.

## Writing

2023 was alright from a writing perspective. I published 16 blog posts and found new mediums, like Medium (pun intended). I mainly wrote about Android-related topics, with some more career or inclusion-related posts. 

I started publishing on Medium, and many of my posts were published on ProAndroidDev-publication. One of my posts also got boosted by the Medium team, which was a pleasant surprise. 

Many newsletters featured my blog posts, which was also nice. I made it to Dev's week's top 7 list twice, first with my #WeCoded-post "[The Language We Use Matters][7]" and then with my recent post "How My App Won the 2nd Place in the WWCode App Deploy Hackathon". 

Here are some personal favorites:

{% embed https://dev.to/eevajonnapanula/improving-android-accessibility-with-modifiers-in-jetpack-compose-3llb %}

I wrote about using Jetpack Compose's modifiers to improve accessibility. In the blog post, I cover four modifiers: `clickable`, `toggleable`, `selectable`, and `magnifier`. This post is also something I've turned into a talk; for example, I gave a talk by the same name and contents at Droidcon Italy.

{% embed https://dev.to/eevajonnapanula/sometimes-i-feel-like-im-invisible-experiences-of-a-woman-in-tech-3glb %}

Another personal favorite is this blog post about how I sometimes feel invisible as a woman in tech. In the post, I wrote about personal experiences and microaggressions in general. I wrote it after some events at work, but it wasn't just about those events - it's something I've been feeling my whole career. 

{% embed https://dev.to/eevajonnapanula/more-accessible-graphs-with-jetpack-compose-part-4-on-screen-control-buttons-3lmh %}

This blog post was fun to write. Or, rather, to build. In the series of blog posts about more accessible graphs, I've been improving a line graph, and this blog post adds on-screen control buttons for easier navigation. It was also the blog post that got boosted by the Medium team. 

## Other Things

Of course, this year has been about more than just writing, talking, and accomplishments. It's not a secret that this year, once again, has been a fight with burnout for me. I wish I could tell you a story about how I was burnt out and re-discovered myself, and now I'm one of those success stories out there. 

No, the story is way more boring and closer to reality for many living with burnout. There have been better times, and there have been worse times. I wish taking sickness leave would solve this, but it hasn't, so here we are, trying to solve the problems at work that cause this. And it doesn't help that because of the brain injury I had, I'm more prone to burnout than some others.

But this year hasn't been all bad either! I cherish many beautiful moments - like when I went kayaking in spring to one of the Finnish national parks (Kolovesi), home to the Saimaa ringed seal. I saw many of them from a distance, but when I unpacked my kayak on the dock at the end of the trip, I heard a sound behind me. I turned around, and I saw that there had been something big. A large fish, I thought to myself and continued unpacking. 

Then I realized that someone was staring at me from the other side of the dock. It was Saimaa ringed seal! I slowly tried to get my phone to get a picture, and right before I was ready to take the photo, the seal just looked at me with those side-eyes (you know, the same that dogs do often) and slowly disappeared to the water. So, no, I didn't get a photo. But the memory will live forever.

Another notable thing from 2023 was that I started writing my master's thesis. It's about Android developers and how to help us to make more accessible apps. I plan to finish it by summer. I'm taking part-time study leave for that, but we'll see what the spring brings. I've learned to not to plan too strictly. 

I've tried to develop new hobbies to improve my recovery outside work, and I started golf. First, going to the green card course was just to be able to join my sister when she's playing, but I kind of fell into a rabbit hole, and now I'm taking lessons during winter to improve my game, and I can't wait for the snow to melt to get to play.

## What About 2024?

I'm not making many promises for 2024 either (as I didn't do last year), but I hope to finish my master's thesis and graduate next year. I also hope to find balance and write a different type of year in review a year from now. 

There are also some longer-term dreams, like writing a book. I've been dreaming about it for a long time, and the time to make that dream come true is closer than it used to be. But first, I really need to finish that master's thesis. 

Overall, I hope 2024 will bring peace, time with old and new friends, a lot of time spent outside, and lots of new learnings. 

I wish you a better year in 2024!

## Links in Blog Post
- [Year in Review - 2021 Edition][1]
- [Year in Review - 2022 Edition][2]
- [How My App Won the 2nd Place in the WWCode App Deploy Hackathon][3]
- [Women Developer Academy Europe 2023 - My Experience][4]
- [Tech Talks with Madona][5] 
- [Women Who Code podcast][6]
- [The Language We Use Matters][7]

[1]: https://eevis.codes/blog/2022-01-01/year-in-review-2021-edition/
[2]: https://dev.to/eevajonnapanula/year-in-review-2022-edition-2fko
[3]: https://dev.to/eevajonnapanula/wwcode-app-deploy-hackathon-2nd-place-winner-bragdoc-58pk
[4]: https://dev.to/eevajonnapanula/women-developer-academy-europe-2023-my-experience-4e3d
[5]: https://www.techtalkswithmadona.com/p/season-3-episode-2-what-does-it-mean
[6]: https://www.womenwhocode.com/blog/conversations-87-web-accessibility
[7]: https://dev.to/eevajonnapanula/the-language-we-use-matters-9mn