Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025
Overview
As this is based on my personal diary, some parts might feel a bit cringeworthy 😂
So many things happened in 2024.
I'm starting this retrospective with such a cliché sentence because I can't think of anything better. Not everyone can start their writing with a sentence like "Mother died today." Or can they? I'm not sure.
2024 Events
Blog Platform Change
Everyone needs their own space. Whether you're a developer or not, you need your own space that isn't dependent on any platform. That's why I bought a domain. So I could gather people regardless of which platform I move to.
Having a fixed domain makes it feel like I truly have my own space, which is very satisfying. I chose Docusaurus as my blog platform. I explained why in Moving from Jekyll Blog to Docusaurus.
Since design isn't my main job, there are still some minor bugs on the main page. I plan to improve them gradually over time.
- Recently I learned about Fuma-docs, which I plan to look into as well. As mentioned above, having a fixed domain means not being platform-dependent, which is great.
Open Source Activities
Many developers want to contribute to open source. I'm no different. A few years ago, I just created and released my own open source projects. Being able to create what you need is one of the advantages of being a developer, so there's no reason not to utilize it.
- GitHub - songkg7/o2: Converts obsidian markdown syntax to other platforms.
- Add 'InnerSpec.keys()' Method with Collection Parameter Support by songkg7 · Pull Request #934 · naver/fixture-monkey · GitHub
My own open source project is an Obsidian plugin called O2. It has surpassed 4k downloads, and occasionally receives PRs. Recently, along with the blog migration, I added support for Docusaurus in addition to Jekyll, providing richer functionality.
I also contributed to Fixture Monkey. Specifically, I worked on translating official documentation and adding simple features. It's a library I've been using for writing test code for the past few years, and I hope it becomes more popular. It's a really good library, but it's somewhat disappointing that people don't seem to know about it yet.
Community Activities
Currently, I'm actively involved in or following up with four communities:
- Code for Korea
- Geuldduk
- LIVID
- Study Club
While the resources I invest in each vary, I'm serving as an organizer in three of them. Through community activities, I've gained not only human resources but also insights that help with actual work.
I believed that as an engineer, to avoid becoming a frog in a well, one should force themselves to be exposed to opportunities for forming social networks, and I actually achieved some results. The ability to form networks with outstanding individuals is an advantage that's hard to quantify.
However, since late 2024, I've been feeling mentally drained. With frequent external activities, it's becoming physically burdensome and difficult to have time completely to myself. For my mental health, I plan to reduce community activities and "hibernate" starting in 2025.
Increased Interest in Premier League
I originally didn't watch much soccer, but I occasionally watched Tottenham's games on YouTube to see Son Heung-min's performance. A former colleague was passionate about supporting Manchester City, so it was fun to tease them when City lost. But while hoping for City's defeat(...), I somehow found myself immersed in international soccer. At some point, I found myself watching not just City and Tottenham but other matches as well. Eventually, Spotv was added to my subscription list, contributing to emptying my wallet.
Wondering which team to support after Son Heung-min retires, I became a Liverpool supporter, captivated by Klopp's charm. Now, even though Liverpool has a new manager and I can't see Klopp's reactions anymore, I still support Liverpool. I think I'll continue to follow Liverpool steadily in the future.
The logo is really cool.
Thoughts on Study Groups
I continued to participate in study groups steadily in 2024. I led some of them directly, and finding regular book-reading studies a bit boring, I tried various methods focusing on practical exercises. While it was more fun than just reading books together, it seemed to be somewhat burdensome for members as it required quite a time investment. If you spend less time on studies, the burden is less but it's harder to gain much. It's a kind of trade-off relationship, and I'm thinking about ways to provide strong motivation. This seems to be what makes it difficult to operate or lead study groups.
Particularly in 2024, I was fortunate to regularly study with highly skilled individuals. After only participating in studies where members constantly changed, having fixed members provided stability and a sense of complementing each other's weaknesses, which was satisfying. Although schedules frequently get delayed... the content is always thorough...
Since running 2-3 studies simultaneously every week was quite challenging, I plan to reduce study groups and increase solo study time in 2025.
Actually, there are many topics I want to study, but people don't want to join... Welcome anyone interested in studying Linear Algebra together
Discontinuing Daily Commits
When I was doing daily commits, I even committed from a hospital bed before surgery. As if possessed, I set alarms and committed at fixed times for nearly 3 years.
During Chuseok 2024, my parents had a traffic accident on their way home1, and in the chaos, I couldn't commit the content I had studied and organized that day. When I came to my senses, midnight had already passed. That's how my daily commit streak of almost 3 years was broken.
I was conflicted. Should I start daily commits again?
The deliberation wasn't as long as expected. I was confident that the fact that I study every day wouldn't change, and would continue to be so. Studying daily had long since become a routine, so why worry? I immediately deleted or archived all the GitHub repositories I had been afraid to remove for fear of losing commit history.
Although my carefully maintained commit history now had holes everywhere, I felt relieved. Without realizing it, I had shamefully been making commits to show others. Only after letting go did I realize I had been caught up in something meaningless.
There's no need to appeal to others. I know that I study every day.
After cleaning up, holes appeared in 2023... The fact that it still bothers me a bit might mean I have some lingering attachment 😂
First Job Change
After working for exactly two years, I started looking at other companies. I didn't like feeling stagnant staying at the same company for several years. I went through several interviews and eventually ended up at my current company. The interview at my current company was very challenging in many ways, and interestingly, this was the biggest reason I chose this company. It's really unfortunate that I can't explain in detail.
Anyway, I was able to live the Pangyo life I had always dreamed of, but in reality, I'm experiencing commuting hell2. I'm planning to move near the company soon to save time.
It's the Economy, Stupid.
My basic strategy is to maintain a long-term investment stance and make decisions based on my own research rather than relying on others' opinions. Initially, I invested in various industries because I didn't know much, but I found it psychologically more stable to invest in industries I somewhat understood rather than those I didn't know well.
So I structured my portfolio mainly around the US IT industry and used ETFs appropriately for diversification. The Three-fund portfolio concept was very helpful.
The cryptocurrency market is still an area I don't understand well, so I'm observing while studying gradually. I feel somewhat reluctant about crypto investment as it seems like speculation rather than a socially beneficial activity. If I do buy, I'll probably only buy Bitcoin gradually through regular investments. I'm thinking of approaching it as a concept of diversification using various assets, like bonds + stocks + gold + crypto.
However, I'm concerned that portfolio rebalancing might become troublesome as it grows. For now, I find it more interesting to think about potential side projects than to worry about investment destinations.
Starting UNICEF Sponsorship
I have a dream. To make a lot of money, establish a foundation, and actively work on solving social problems with that capital. It makes my face flush to write it down, but it's quite an ambitious goal.
The problems we face in development are much easier compared to social problems. At least survival isn't at stake. Here, survival literally means issues directly related to life and death. I think solving such problems is the most valuable among the problems an engineer can solve.
But there was an issue. Does this mean I can't do anything until I make a lot of money? How much money do I need to make to consider it "a lot"? 🤔
So I just started sponsoring now. Even if it's a small amount. Unfortunately, there are many people in the world who can't wait until I make a lot of money. I thought starting right away would be more meaningful.
The Right Moment to Write a Retrospective from the Perspective of Daily Life's Value
Personally, I don't place special value on commemorative days like birthdays.
The reason I don't feel special or celebratory about commemorative days or birthdays is that the moment you assign special value to certain days, other days seem to lose their relative value. This distinction naturally hinders appreciating the preciousness of ordinary daily life and makes us live waiting for special days. Eventually, ordinary days start to feel less important.
To reclaim the value of daily life, I choose not to assign special value to special days. Paradoxically, this allows me to feel true preciousness in ordinary days. If we could ask someone who suddenly passed away yesterday, today would have been the most desperate day of all. When I think about this, I ponder how insignificant commemorative days are compared to the weight of an ordinary day. What desperate people need is not commemorative days, but just one more day.
However, we can't live celebrating being alive every day or treating each day as special. Humans adapt very quickly, so it would soon become taken for granted.
Then how about thinking that "every day is equally important and precious" instead of making certain days special? Wouldn't ordinary daily life feel a bit different? Daily life is inherently precious.
I wonder if I'm just rationalizing my lack of interest in commemorative days...
The introduction was too long. So when should this person write a retrospective?
While I'm writing this 2024 retrospective as we enter 2025, I think retrospectives can actually be written anytime3. Other than being timely and nice to look at for summarizing the past year, I don't feel any greater reason or value. Well, thinking about it, I wonder if there needs to be a bigger reason.
I consider it my version of optimistic nihilism.
Conclusion
Finally, I'll summarize 2024 and leave my plans for 2025. They say public declarations tend to be better kept, so hoping for that effect.
2024 Summary
- Wrote 126 articles. Refined and published 14 of them on the blog.
- Started enjoying EPL, especially Liverpool.
- Participated in 3 major conferences.
- Experienced first job change.
- Became active in multiple communities.
- Experienced various types of study groups.
- Created and contributed to open source projects.
- Started UNICEF sponsorship.
- Decided to write a retrospective.
2025 Plans
- Reduce external community activities for inner peace
- Study English conversation
- Study mathematics to understand AI
- Exercise (climbing, fitness, etc.)
- If possible, launch a lecture
- Always be kind