2020 Year in Review

January

I started off the year by being extremely fortunate to be able to buy a house. I feel a bit weird about it because the only reason I was able to do so was through a mix of software development being a very well-paying field and being the recipient of some generational wealth. I guess this slightly downplays the work I put in to land the jobs I did, but still, I don’t want to pretend like I didn’t have a huge advantage because of the family I was born to. Regardless, I’m very appreciative that I was able to buy a house, and it was a nice way to start off the year.

The other big event in January was that I started work on Wizard Tactics, the video game that would become my running project all throughout the year. I’ve always wanted to make a video game, and getting a working prototype up and running in the last week of January was very gratifying.

February

I wrapped up the first job I was tech lead on at work in February. It was a fun project in many ways, and frustrating in some others, but I very much enjoyed the chance to be a tech lead on it. Being a tech lead was really the only career goal I had figured out, and I didn’t really expect to be given a chance to be one only a few years into my career, but I’m very appreciative that my job gave me the opportunity to do so. I don’t really have a large amount of career goals now aside from, well, trying to keep getting better as a programmer and tech lead!

March

I moved into my house in March. And then one week later the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Going from renting a house with 4 other people to living alone during a pandemic was certainly an adjustment. But I’ve always been good at keeping up with friends online, so the few months I lived alone until my roommate moved in in May were mostly pretty relaxing (if you ignore the stress about the pandemic). I also learned that I can work pretty effectively from home, which I was a bit worried about. Not having to drive into work (or dress up for work) has been great, although I do miss seeing my coworkers in person.

March was also when L.A.M.P. was supposed to start recording the final parts of our album. But that will have to wait until the pandemic’s over. What’s one more year added to an album production time that’s already at least a year longer than it probably needed to be?

April

There was nothing much to note in April, except for my birthday, which I was still able to celebrate by taking a day off of work and then playing games online with friends in the evening. My friends were also very kind and ordered me a birthday dinner, so overall it was still a great birthday.

May

My roommate moved in in late May, which I have been grateful for this entire year. Living alone was fun, but I think the longer it went on the more of a negative effect it would have had on my mental health. Having a friend to hang out with in the evenings has been wonderful. His cat Penny is also very cute and has slightly converted me from being a dog person. Being able to walk out of my office and give a cat some scratches has been great for mental health this year.

June-August

The summer is kind of a blur, to be honest! I mostly spent it working on Wizard Tactics, playing video games, and watching TV. The one major personal event that stands out was probably the worst of this year, which was my sister getting diagnosed with brain cancer in August. Having your sibling diagnosed with cancer and not being able to go be with them or the rest of your family because of a pandemic sucks. I am continually grateful for how many friends stepped up to support my sister, my parents when they were visiting her, and me and my brother here in Grand Rapids. I’m also so glad the surgery to remove the tumor went well, and although she continues to recover and begin the process of chemo as we head into 2021, my sister rules and continually impresses me with how well she has been handling her life changing completely.

September-October

Although the project technically started in late August, September and October were filled with learning SwiftUI and developing my first full iOS app at work. I’m very pleased with how the app turned out and how much I learned. I’ve always wanted to learn iOS dev after being primarily a web developer for my career, and it was a lot of fun!

In September, I finally talked to my doctor about my suspicions that I have anxiety after putting it off for a few years due to… laziness, I guess? There was no real good reason to be honest. But my dad (a psychologist) urged me to do so given how this year has been and given our family’s history with anxiety and depression. After talking with me and hearing some examples of why I suspected I had anxiety, my doctor prescribed me some anxiety meds and they have made a marked improvement in my mental health. It’s absolutely wild how nice it is to not have to deal with anxiety spiking as often, or not having to worry that something random will kill me, or not having to force myself to not check the gas stove in the middle of the night to make sure it’s off or, well, so on. I’m very glad the first meds I tried worked very well for me with little side effects. Also given the general atmosphere of this year and, well, my sister having cancer, being able to help keep my anxiety in check has been so, so nice.

October also marked the release of Wizard Tactics into closed alpha. I have a lot of work left to do on it, but I’m very happy I was able to reach the closed alpha milestone. The game is shaping up very well, and I’m really glad the people who have tried it have all seemed to enjoy it!

November

The highlight of November was Thanksgiving. My roommate and I both didn’t leave (‘cause, well, the pandemic), and we made a very delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I’m especially proud of the sweet potato biscuits I made with my uncle’s recipe.

December

Christmas season this year somehow felt more, well, Christmas-y than last year did. Part of that was probably because my roommate and I decorated the house and made an intentional effort to watch a lot of Christmas movies. As I’ve grown up I’m always surprised at how much more, well, work it takes to put myself into the Christmas spirit than it did when I was a kid, but it’s always very comforting to do so. Spending Christmas and New Year’s Eve remote with friends and family was certainly different this year, but it wasn’t bad at all. I also had a very generous 12 days off to end the year, which I’ve spent finally finishing this website after buying the domain a few years back! I also spent it playing a lot of video games. So many video games.

Wrap-Up

I’ve been extremely fortunate to have had a surprisingly decent 2020 given this year’s circumstances. I’m lucky enough to have a well-paying job that lets me work from home, so the pandemic hasn’t been as much of a financial strain or health risk as it has to so many. I’m also lucky enough to be a single adult who doesn’t have to worry about children not being able to go to school. I’ve also, to be frank, been lucky enough to be be born a white man, where I don’t have to worry about cops killing me because of the color of my skin. America’s systems have failed so many this year, and looking back at how ultimately privileged my year has been is a stark contrast with how terrible I know this year has been for so many. I guess I’m writing this all out here because I never want to forget the fact that I am so privileged, and if you’re in a similar position as me, to encourage you to not forget that as well. And we can’t just not forget it, we have to work to try and fix these systems that have hurt so many this year.

I’m very thankful for my friends, my family, and a workplace who has been very kind to me this year. It’s made a year that could have been terrible not so bad. I hope 2021 is an improvement over 2020, as I’m sure we all do. But I’m going to also try and be pragmatic and keep in mind that it’s only going to be an improvement if people make an effort to make it so.

Here’s to a hopefully better 2021, for everyone :)

-- Tyler