As 2018 comes to an end, I am flabbergasted by everything that has happened to me in the last 12 months. This is a brief self-indulgent review.
Work
Doctor Volleyball
I incorporated Doctor Volleyball on May 23rd 2018. This set up DrVB as a legal entity in the province of Ontario, Canada. More importantly, I spent many months rewriting the entire application: migrating to a new database, switching operational infrastructure, architecting an offline-first PWA, and redesigning the entire user experience.
This has been so rewarding for both the business and technical aspects of the company. Typescript has proven to be a great investment for maintainability, refactor-ability and correctness. With Doctor Volleyball as an offline-first application, teams can actually use it without having an internet connection: making it useful to high school and club teams.
Jonah Group
August 2018 marked the end of my 16 month internship with the Jonah Group. During my tenure I worked on a single project with them for HVPA. I had the responsibility of architecting and building the entire frontend code base in React/Redux. The amount of responsibility and autonomy that they entrusted to me gave me the opportunity to grow as a developer and as a leader.
Over my time with the Jonah Group, I was asked to step into a variety of new roles. The first was that of a Business Analyst, talking with our clients and writing up requirements. I was featured in a new promotional video detailing the relationship between Jonah Group and HVPA.
I also gave 3 company wide talks on a variety of frontend technologies and best practices. Additionally I started an internal training program as React Technology Leader that took inspiration from the open source community and addressed specific business needs that the Jonah Group had. I am so thankful for all the connections I made and the experiences I had.
Amazon
On Christmas Day 2018, I accepted my offer to work for Amazon in 2019 as a Software Development Engineer. I am so excited to see where this new chapter of my life takes me.
School
Undergraduate Studies
I completed my penultimate semester at the University of Toronto in December. I love learning and the five years I’ve spent at UofT will always have a special place in my heart. Before I get too mushy, I still have an entire semester left filled with 5 challenging Computer Science courses. Onwards!
University of Toronto Volleyball
This is the fifth season I have worked with the Men’s Volleyball Program at the University of Toronto. We missed the playoffs in the 2017-18 season with a 7-11 record, but are poised to do much better this year. After finishing the first half of the 2018-19 season, we are sitting in 3rd place in our division with a 6-3 record. It is so gratifying to watch the boys on the team mature year after year.
Personal
Travel
I have been fortunate enough to be able to travel this past year. I spent an amazing weekend during March in New York City with my mum and a week in San Francisco during November. I cannot thank Claire Huskins enough for putting me up in California and showing me around.
A summer is not complete without trips into the wild. This year I was able to escape the city during the first week of September and spend 4 days backcountry canoe camping in Frontenac Provincial Park. I am also blessed to have friends with cottages who were gracious enough to let me spend many weekends with them. Friends
A recurring theme thus far is the amazing people in my life. I am so lucky to have met awesome people this year, and so thankful to have reconnected with many old friends too. I also managed to see my friends perform in Good Kid and Basset concerts.
Books
A few standouts from 2018 would include Slaughter House 5, Brave New World and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. I also helped with both of the 2018 Book Rides, put on by The Reading Line.
To summarize, 2018 has been absolutely surreal. A few other special moments would include watching my friends get promoted at work and spending Christmas with my girlfriend. Somebody once told me that I say “thank you” too much, but I honestly don’t think that’s possible. I am so thankful for this past year, and so excited for what 2019 has in store for me.