2019 In Review: My Year of Grace
Tags: yearinreview
Published: 2019-12-30 15:53:13

The year is 2025, and I’m randomly scrolling through my blog and I come across this post I’ve written, one thing is certain I’ll have a sheepish smile on my face. The purpose of writing a year-end review is to reflect on how well you did, check yourself and set goals for the next year. [I started doing this in 2018](https://www.giftegwuenu.com/my-2018-year-in-review-and-2019-resolutions) and I know there’s value here and it helps reinforce the fact that I’m doing great and hitting my long term goals.

I resolved at the beginning of the year to create a list of things I wanted to achieve before the year runs out I used [Notion](https://www.notion.so/?r=dc185bbb4b3443619f50b44d8415422d) for tracking my progress which I find helpful. I’m happy to say I accomplished all my goals for the year. Well, except a few like learning how to drive but I’ve moved those to my 2020 goals.  

![My Notion Board](https://paper-attachments.dropbox.com/s_613553E3A2CF0B36768E92B8020027C7BF360306EC6342F8BDEAE81FF9AA8BEE_1577438430063_Screenshot+2019-12-27+at+10.20.15+AM.png)

## Highlights of the year ✨

I tagged 2019 my year of grace because a lot of events that happened in my life didn’t go the way I had planned it they were even better than I expected. I am so sure God is looking out for me because I had a good year. 

***In 2019, I…*** 

- Got promoted at work in January
- Hosted 3 events for Vue Vixens Nigeria
- Started a the JAMstack Community with [William](https://twitter.com/iChuloo) and hosted 2 events
- Spoke 5 times this year and gave 1 workshop
- Traveled to 3 countries and visited 6 cities  
- Invited to 3 International Conferences 
- I became a Media Developer Expert for Cloudinary
- Started a YouTube Channel and created 12 videos and got up 464 subs in less than 6 months
- Published 23 posts on my blog and my blog traffic grew to 15,000 page views and on [Dev.to](https://dev.to) 129,000 post views.

### **Work**  
Overall I think my growth pivoted this year, Things started great at work as I got promoted in January, I was involved with a lot of open-source projects. I contributed to [Gridsome Docs](https://github.com/gridsome/gridsome.org), [Storefront UI](https://github.com/DivanteLtd/storefront-ui), [Learning Resource Roadmap](https://github.com/devcenter-square/Learning-Resource-Path-Front-End). In total, I had 1017 contributions on GitHub. I created a [starter for Gridsome called Minimal Blog Starter](https://github.com/lauragift21/gridsome-minimal-blog) which I’ve seen a couple of people using. 

![GitHub Contributions](https://paper-attachments.dropbox.com/s_613553E3A2CF0B36768E92B8020027C7BF360306EC6342F8BDEAE81FF9AA8BEE_1577440586388_Screenshot+2019-12-27+at+10.56.18+AM.png)


### **Writing, Speaking & Community**   
I wrote a total of 23 articles both on my blog and other publications and traffic on my blog grew by over 15,000 page views. I shared a lot of tutorials and decided to try video tutorials as well. I created 12 videos on [my YouTube Channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUgg53iJX1pdabUxpkgozA) and grew my subscribers to 464 amazing subs.

My favorites among articles I wrote:

- [The Art of Googling](https://www.giftegwuenu.com/the-art-of-googling)
- [Building a UI Component with React & Storybook](https://www.giftegwuenu.com/building-a-ui-component-with-react-and-storybook)
- [A Practical Guide to Optimizing Performance on the Web](https://www.giftegwuenu.com/a-practical-guide-to-optimizing-performance-on-the-web)
- [Guide to using Alternative Text on Images](https://www.giftegwuenu.com/guide-to-using-alternative-text-on-images)

and YouTube Videos:

- [Personal Branding for Software Engineers and Designers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxDqyK3fNUs)
- [A Day in the Life of a Software Engineer in Lagos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mLMtAxSr8U)
- [WHAT'S IN MY WORK BAG?! // Software Engineer Edition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENaGmtn8dho&t=238s)


![YouTube Channel](https://paper-attachments.dropbox.com/s_613553E3A2CF0B36768E92B8020027C7BF360306EC6342F8BDEAE81FF9AA8BEE_1577441397781_Screenshot+2019-12-27+at+10.40.27+AM.png)


I spoke at [5 events](https://speakerdeck.com/lauragift21), one of which was a meetup in Denver my first ever international speaking opportunity and gave a Vue Vixens workshop at [Concatenate Conference.](http://concatenate.dev/) 

![](https://paper-attachments.dropbox.com/s_613553E3A2CF0B36768E92B8020027C7BF360306EC6342F8BDEAE81FF9AA8BEE_1577443603774_EGgtusgWwAA_muk.jpg)


I was super active in the community this year. This comes with a lot of hard work and opportunities. I helped organized 6 events (meetups and a conference). The Vue Vixens Nigeria chapter I help run had 3 events with over 150 women introduced to Vue.js. JAMstack Lagos a community I started with a friend [William Imoh](https://twitter.com/iChuloo) now has almost [600 members on Meetup](https://www.meetup.com/JAMStack-Lagos) with two events under our belts I look forward to doing more in 2020. I also helped co-organize one of the biggest conferences in Africa [Concatenate Conference](http://concatenate.dev/) with other amazing folks (Sarah, Simona, Christian, and Silm) this is my biggest highlight of the year.


![Vue Vixens 😍](https://paper-attachments.dropbox.com/s_613553E3A2CF0B36768E92B8020027C7BF360306EC6342F8BDEAE81FF9AA8BEE_1577443125933_IMG_5611.jpg)


My dream to attend an international conference came to pass! Not only did I get a chance to attend one but I attended three different conferences. Microsoft Ignite, GitHub Universe and AWS re:Invent. This by far was one of the biggest events in my life this year and I’m grateful because not only did I attend I got to meet some of my heroes and made new connections not to forget the tons of knowledge gained on this adventure.

![](https://paper-attachments.dropbox.com/s_613553E3A2CF0B36768E92B8020027C7BF360306EC6342F8BDEAE81FF9AA8BEE_1577444207304_IMG_6691-COLLAGE.jpg)


I got recognized as a [Media Developer Expert for Cloudinary](https://cloudinary.com/partners-old/media-developers). They started the program this year and MDEs are unique software and design advocates who share their knowledge, expertise, and insights at community events and across the social web, aided by Cloudinary’s products and resources. 
I was a guest on 3 podcasts in 2019 alone!! [Views on Vue](https://devchat.tv/views-on-vue/vov-071-gridsome-with-gift-egwuenu/)[, That’s my JAMstack](https://thatsmyjamstack.com/posts/gift-egwuenu/)[,](https://frontendhappyhour.com/episodes/sipping-our-drinks-enjoying-the-vue-vue-js/) and [Front End Happy Hour.](https://frontendhappyhour.com/episodes/sipping-our-drinks-enjoying-the-vue-vue-js/)

### **Life**   
My life was quite interesting nothing out of the blue. I was more intentional about self-care and looking out for myself. Also, like my friend will say trying to live my best life.


- I read about 3 books not proud of this because I wanted to do more but didn’t dedicate time to reach my set goal. I promise myself I’ll do better by investing in audiobooks.
- I turned 24 and it feels like I’m getting old omg!!
- I traveled to 6 cities in 3 countries. This was such an amazing experience and I look forward to doing more trips in 2020.
![Happy Moments](https://paper-attachments.dropbox.com/s_613553E3A2CF0B36768E92B8020027C7BF360306EC6342F8BDEAE81FF9AA8BEE_1577445786445_IMG_3515-COLLAGE.jpg)

- I decided to cut my hair. Best decision ever as I now feel free I never liked making my natural hair it was so painful.
![Big Chop](https://paper-attachments.dropbox.com/s_613553E3A2CF0B36768E92B8020027C7BF360306EC6342F8BDEAE81FF9AA8BEE_1577445904155_IMG_0349-COLLAGE.jpg)


## The L's in My Life 
I'll be lying to myself if I said the entire 2019 was great and only good things happened to me. Well, life they say is not always a bed of roses. I had different points in my life when I doubted myself and dealt with depression. Not even going to think about the amount of times I felt like an imposter. A shitty place to be in life is when you can't find happiness I was in this block for a period and I hated it. I got rejected from getting things I was really hoping I would secure but that didn't stop me from trying again when I failed because if anything I won't give up. I kept the energy high and my attitude to those rejections is to keep trying I'm taking this same energy into 2020.

## Humans of 2019
I couldn't think of a better name for this section. I had grateful list in mind but decided to change it last minute. A special list of people who came through for me this year in one way or another and I want to thank them for taking a chance on me. These are people I now call friends and happy I have them in my life.
[Sarah Drasner](https://twitter.com/sarah_edo), [Franca Rotwukka](https://twitter.com/Mac_2reel), [Simona Cotin](https://twitter.com/simona_cotin), [Karissa Peth](https://twitter.com/karissapeth), [Adora Nwodo](https://twitter.com/AdoraNwodo), [Seyi Adeleke](https://twitter.com/seyi__adeleke).

## What’s Next?  

I have a couple of things planned out for 2020. I also look forward to doing even more work and creating an impact than I did this year. It’s been such an exciting and scary journey I’ve had and I sincerely look forward to what I do with myself in 2020. My mantra for 2020 is to Do The Work!! Some plans I’ve in the works and hope to achieve include:

**More Speaking Engagements:** I hope to speak at more events in 2020 and also improve my skills as a speaker. 

**Keep the Fire Burning; Learn In Public:** I love the concept of [Learning in Public](https://www.swyx.io/writing/learn-in-public/) and I want to be intentional about this in 2020. The act of learning in public means you get to share your skill development and your works in progress online, even before you think you’re ready. I want to continue sharing content on my blog, YouTube and help build communities. 

**Release Egghead Lessons:** I became an Egghead Instructor this year and I’m working on a couple of lessons and hoping they get released in 2020.

**Write a Book and release a Course:** I started working on this project this year but I look forward to releasing them in 2020.

**Land a New Job:** I want to explore more opportunities by 2020 that includes finding a new job. I’m open to working remotely or relocation. If you have any leads please let me know thanks!

That wraps up my year! It was a great one I can’t wait to see what I do in 2020 as it’s the start of a new decade I’m so excited to keep growing and making an impact in my community.