2023 Year-End Review

date
Dec 31, 2023
slug
2
status
Published
tags
2023
Annual Summary
summary
type
Post
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As the year comes to a close, I've noticed many people on Twitter (now called X) using a 40-question template created by Kepano, the CEO of Obsidian, to reflect on the past year. I've decided to try it myself. Here's my version, with three questions omitted for personal reasons:
  1. What did you do this year that you’d never done before? This year was filled with many firsts, thanks to returning to school in a foreign country. New experiences were a given.
  1. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions? Not entirely, as I had many aspirations at the start of the year but only achieved some.
  1. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes, a classmate I met this year had a baby.
  1. Did anyone close to you die? No.
  1. What cities/states/countries did you visit? Moving to New Zealand for new challenges and experiences, I particularly remember a mid-July trip to the South Island, exploring new places I hadn't seen during my 2017 visit.
  1. What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year? Focus and more exploration. I've set just two learning goals for December, which is working well, so I hope to continue this approach.
  1. What date(s) from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August's participation in the Summer of Tech's Create Camp was enlightening, and yesterday, passing the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam on my birthday affirmed my new focused approach.
  1. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Studying abroad.
  1. What was your biggest failure? Not exploring my new country as much as I had hoped.
  1. What other hardships did you face? Lack of confidence in language skills and the steep learning curve in software engineering.
  1. Did you suffer illness or injury? No.
  1. What was the best thing you bought? ChatGPT Plus membership.
  1. Where did most of your money go? Rent.
  1. What did you get really excited about? Diving into the IT industry.
  1. What song will always remind you of this year?
  1. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? Thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer? Sadder, thinner, and poorer.
  1. What do you wish you’d done more of? Engage more in interpersonal communication.
  1. What do you wish you’d done less of? Spend less time on my phone.
  1. How are you spending the holidays? Gathering with friends.
  1. Did you fall in love this year? No.
  1. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No.
  1. What was your favorite show? The only concert I attended was Sam Smith's GLORIA the tour, making it my favorite.
  1. What was the best book you read? The Courage to Be Disliked.
  1. What was your greatest musical discovery of the year? None.
  1. What was your favorite film? The Wandering Earth 2.
  1. What was your favorite meal? It was the only hotpot I had in New Zealand with friends.
  1. What did you want and get? Studying abroad.
  1. What did you want and not get? An internship.
  1. What did you do on your birthday? Took the AWS certification exam.
  1. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Getting an internship.
  1. How would you describe your personal fashion this year? Not applicable.
  1. What kept you sane? Aspirations for an ideal life.
  1. Which celebrity/public figure did you admire the most? Shen Yifei, for her wisdom in interpersonal relationships.
  1. Who did you miss? My family.
  1. Who was the best new person you met? Eisele, an outgoing and cheerful friend who often invited me to various activities.
  1. What valuable life lesson did you learn this year? Just do it, and be more confident.
  1. What is a quote that sums up your year? "Dreams are full, but reality is stark."

© Ralph Li 2021 - 2025