Quacking into a New Year: Reflections on 2022 and Plans for 2023
Tags: community, conference, career, developer
Published: 2023-01-03 17:57:28

---
title: Quacking into a New Year: Reflections on 2022 and Plans for 2023
published: true
date: 2023-01-03 14:30:42 UTC
tags: community, conference, career, developer
canonical_url: https://antetomic.hashnode.dev/quacking-into-a-new-year-reflections-on-2022-and-plans-for-2023
---

As 2022 came to the end and 2023 began, it is a perfect chance to reflect on 2022, talk about 2023 plans, and start with 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**](https://www.devopsjsconf.com/) 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. 🙂

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1672697012124/e7926efd-306c-4fa2-83d4-6f746d84acf3.jpeg)

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](https://twitter.com/miracle_404), [Natalia Venditto](https://twitter.com/AnfibiaCreativa), and [Konstantinos Leimonis](https://twitter.com/leimonio) 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**](https://www.bejs.io/conf) 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](https://twitter.com/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.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1672697605647/1a7e26f8-d2d9-4c7d-96ae-3b9dde6fe6db.jpeg)

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**](https://react-finland.fi/) where I held a session last year. I had a chance to hear interesting topics and catch up with [Juho Vepslinen](https://twitter.com/bebraw) (the main organizer of React Finland) who I know for a few years, and finally meet my friend [Juhis](https://twitter.com/Hamatti) in person. I was especially very excited to see my favorite speaker friends - [David](https://twitter.com/DavidKPiano) and [Jenny](https://twitter.com/jen_ayy_), and to meet the awesome [Farzad](https://twitter.com/farzad_yz).  
I finally met [Sara Vieira](https://twitter.com/NikkitaFTW) in person after she was an MC on my session, and more faces in person like [Jani Evkallio](https://twitter.com/jevakallio) who took us for awesome food, [Adam Juran](https://twitter.com/AdamJuranTenor), [Joonas](https://twitter.com/rjoonas), [m4dz](https://twitter.com/m4d_z), [Kadi Kraman](https://twitter.com/kadikraman), [Nicolai Sper](https://twitter.com/nsueper), [Ryan Carniato](https://twitter.com/RyanCarniato), [Oliver](https://twitter.com/webkreation), [Nik Graf](https://twitter.com/nikgraf), [Matsu](https://twitter.com/matsuuu_), [Norbert de Langen](https://twitter.com/NorbertdeLangen), [Finn Kristian Jrstad](https://www.linkedin.com/in/finn-kristian-j%C3%B8rstad-b57237b5/), [Dan Filip Solberg](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-filip-solberg-73a5ab194/) (Mr. Random 💪), [Kaspar Naaber](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaspar-naaber-6a240264/), [Inga Grgi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingagrgic/). I think that networking and connecting with people is a very important part, so I was really happy that I met these amazing people. 😄

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1672698408924/86ce07ba-be45-4ba2-bbad-a869f7dbf75c.jpeg)

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 30C to 12C and even 6-7C, 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](https://shift.infobip.com/europe/zadar-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](https://twitter.com/kentcdodds) and [Vitaly Friedman](https://twitter.com/vitalyf). I loved meeting amazing speakers like [Debbie O'Brien](https://twitter.com/debs_obrien) (with who I shared the stage at _Build Stuff 2022_ conference) and [Kitze](https://twitter.com/thekitze) 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

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1672697289532/0b8bc51b-6afa-44b1-a833-7367c7347dc4.jpeg)

In **November** , I had the opportunity to speak at [Build Stuff 2022](https://www.buildstuff.events/) 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.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1672697427619/3b95653b-073c-4a1c-aaac-681cadb2e55d.jpeg)

It was an absolute pleasure to meet many amazing, talented, and kind speakers in Vilnius. Special shoutout to the amazing main organizer [Neringa](https://twitter.com/NeringaYoung) who took us speakers everywhere in Vilnius, [Skaiste](https://www.linkedin.com/in/skaiste-andrulyte-aa5a53151/), [Paulina](https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulina-seskauskaite-215b5323a/), and [Kamil](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamile-jara/) without who we wouldn't have this conference. I also loved catching up with [Cassandra](https://twitter.com/cassandrafaris), [Eleftheria Batsou](https://twitter.com/BatsouElef), and [Debbie O'Brien](https://twitter.com/debs_obrien) and meeting [Dr. Joe Perez](https://twitter.com/jwperezman), [Dennie](https://twitter.com/DennieDeclercq), [Katie](https://twitter.com/Katie66097186), [Sohan](https://twitter.com/soganmageshwar), [Serg](https://twitter.com/smasis), [Elizabeth](https://twitter.com/Mozts), [Hannes](https://twitter.com/hannes_lowette), [Inessa](https://twitter.com/iHeimeshoff), [Adele](https://twitter.com/iam_carpenter), [Ren](https://twitter.com/Rene__N), [Lars](https://twitter.com/larsklint), [Dona](https://twitter.com/donasarkar), [Francesco](https://twitter.com/nesso_xyz), [Vagif](https://twitter.com/ooobject), [Lode](https://twitter.com/KennesLode), [Max](https://twitter.com/mgfeller), [Arthur](https://twitter.com/ArthurDoler), [Stacy](https://twitter.com/Stacy_Cash), [Nico](https://twitter.com/NicoVermeir), [Hkan](https://twitter.com/agrevlis) with who I had an awesome time exploring Vilnius and Trakai, [Bobur](https://twitter.com/BoburUmurzokov) who is a really great person and probably one of the speakers I have befriended the most, [Angelique](https://twitter.com/AngeliqueGr28), [Eldert](https://twitter.com/egrootenboer), [David](https://twitter.com/david_whitney), [Mary](https://twitter.com/mgrygles) who is so nice and supportive and a really good friend to everyone, [Dylan](https://twitter.com/dylanbeattie), [Glenn](https://twitter.com/henriksen), [Saloni](https://twitter.com/salonigarg_), [Kevlin](https://twitter.com/KevlinHenney), [Jezen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jezen/) who is also a hobby photographer like me and with who I loved exchanging the photography tips, [Matheus](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ythecombinator/), and many more! 💪💪

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1672697410023/17b2af1a-d6fc-4039-8b81-0f04925ce5dc.jpeg)

A big shoutout to the amazing attendees I had the pleasure of meeting like [Maciej](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maciejrzasa/), [Robertas](https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertas-ankudovicius/), [Gaivile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaivile-vezeviciute-48714b1a2/), [Vytautas](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vytautas-%C5%BEarskus-430559b2/), [Ernestas](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ernestas-loba%C4%8Devskis-872210159/), [Nicolai](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolai-jepsen-schmidt/), [Ferdinand](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ferdinand-armbruster/), [Greta](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretanevera/), [Vitaliy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitaliy-steffensen-04b4b71b1/), 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](https://twitter.com/vedrancoo) 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](https://twitter.com/capJavert) 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!

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1672697526901/1928035a-2c75-4065-b71f-e839427f0f5e.jpeg)

**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](https://infobip.com/developers/blog). 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](https://bit.ly/ante-bs-jan-26).

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. 😄