2022 left.
Published: 2023-01-06 08:38:36


## Saying goodbye to a year of leaps of faith and all-important adventurousness
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2022 left. As I look back at a year beyond expectations, I can’t help but ruminate on the crucial events that shaped my life into where it is now.

It was a year of leaps of faith and meaningful adventures.

But to understand the main drive of these events, looking back to 2022 will provide no answers, for that you and I would need to look a bit further back, to 2021.

## 2021 and the realization of professional stagnation

2021 for me was the year when I accepted that I was in a staring contest with career stagnation. I was content, and comfortable, new challenges were not so new and neither were the clients, the day-to-day routine had spread farther than I was willing to admit.

I wanted to lead an agency of people who would stir things up but how could I, when I alone was sailing in calm waters? To address the situation, I followed [the first principles rule](https://untools.co/issue-trees) and broke down my problem into its two most basic truths:

**Truth number one:**

That whatever had been doing so far was not something I wanted to continue doing.

**Truth number two:**

That a change of scenery will not be enough, and that just by moving to another agency the only thing I would achieve was to be in the same place a couple of months down the line.

**Once I was comfortable with these two basic truths, only then was it time to start building towards a solution.**

And so I left my stable job in advertising, left the digital agency I had founded and run for the past 1.5 years. Most importantly, I left behind a career spanning close to a decade, to pursue another path in a new country and unknown market.

At this point it was clear what I did not want to do, but as for what I wanted to do, not so much. There were options though.

Maybe shifting my career from agency-based to client-side, contributing to the growth of a single business. Maybe focusing more on management. Or maybe taking on a new entrepreneurial endeavour.

While examining each idea, another pattern started to emerge.

This was an external problem as much as it was internal. The Western Balkans market (where I was operating) was just too small for my liking, and I wanted to test myself in a different, more complex environment.

That left me dissatisfied towards my professional outlook and a market that did not provide a lot of room to manoeuvre, which narrowed my option to pretty much looking for opportunities abroad.

Germany has always been a personal favourite.

Being also the biggest market in Europe, made things more appealing for sure, but on a professional front, the gap between The Western Balkans marketing scene and the German one was far too wide to bridge, mostly due to the language.


## A fresh start

After a bit of soul searching and market research, I turned back to a long interest of mine, coding.

I have always been fascinated by tech and I pride myself on being an early adopter of new technologies. As a matter of fact, computer science was just what I set out to do 12 years ago when deciding on my university major. But long story short, life happened, and I completed my bachelor’s in marketing.

Returning to tech felt right. It also felt like a redemption arch, like I was giving my 18-years old self a second chance to pursue what they love.

_And so, I set off._

### Deciding how to make the transition

Joining the tech industry and leaving advertising behind is easier said than done.

Without having a clear pathway, again I started focusing on things I did not like or wanted to do, in order to slowly get to what I liked and wanted to do.

Reverse-engineering my way through, I quickly realised the university route was not for me. A 3-year break from the workforce was unthinkable, and turning 30 soon was a milestone that kept pressuring me more.

Hence, the route would be:

1. Enroll in an intensive bootcamp
2. Autodidactism (self-directed learning)

I obviously started with the option I could do so right away; self-learning.

From August to October 2021, YT tutorials, Udemy courses, tech newsletters and the sorts occupied my time, attention, social media timeline, and much-needed weekends so I could get the headstart I needed. Practically, every free moment from my Monday-Friday 9 to 5 was dedicated to my goal.

Soon, I began working on my projects to put my knowledge to the test. I created Bandit Trail, a website built with React, intended for bike lovers to shop for equipment, share discovered trails, and connect with other bikers.

To prepare for my career change, I knew I needed to not only gather the right skills but also show them off. So I polished my CV, revamped my Linkedin Profile, and started sending out some applications to test the waters.

In the meantime, I worked on how to get to route no.1; enroll in a BootCamp, and in April of 2022, I joined LeWagon in Cologne, which is ranked as the world's best coding bootcamp, launching careers in web development, data science, and data analytics.

This experience was one I will always have with me and cherish forever.

In only three months, I was able to learn so much, [present a finished product at the end of the bootcamp](https://youtu.be/YQdPDi8R3O8?t=2201), all while exposing myself to new challenges, making new friends and learning how to navigate in a new country.


![Le Wagon Certificate](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/uvzhq8fw3nbuac6haoxh.png)

Shortly after starting LeWagon experience, the early applications I started sending at the beginning of 2022 paid off. After some interviews during February - March, I officially accepted a job offer in April and signed my first job contract as a developer.<br>


## 2022 left. And 2023 has only just begun.

My new job as a developer is proving to be just as challenging and rewarding as I thought. Starting a new life in a new country is undoubtedly complex, but I am taking it one step at a time, always by figuring out what i don’t want and what i want with me in this journey.

**What’s new? In. What’s stale? Out**

As a ‘23 resolution, I am also promising myself to connect with my community more and make better use of this platform. This piece is the first of, i hope, many you might see around here

![github contributions](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/fiktxi1eib6mhc04acca.png)