A Year in Review: 2021 Was My Best Year

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4 min read

After suffering a lot in 2020 due to the crisis that the sweet coronavirus made, 2021 has been a completely different, surprising, and life-changing year for me. There were lots of things that achieved that I wouldn't even imagine. Even though there were a few things left unachieved.

Below is a story about some interesting stuff that happened to me in 2021. I'm just going to point out the best of them and describe them as briefly as possible. Please note that this might not be something you like, and I just wrote this article as a memory for myself.

  • New role as an iOS developer

Since the beginning of the year, I was unstoppably submitted to some remote iOS positions, regardless of which country the companies are located in, hoping to learn more about iOS development and experience teamwork.

It wasn't a great off. In January, I got rejected by a British company. A Polish and a Kurdish one in February. Not to mention my other submissions were ignored by others. Of course, It wasn't easy to handle, but I've kept learning and submitting because it's okay to get rejected.

Then in March, I made a mistake by submitting to an American-Kurdish startup. I worked there for a few months, but I had to leave because that company was a piece of failure, and I couldn't learn anything new there. Hopefully, I did.

I gave up on trying to a position, and I chose to focus on studying, as it's my year in college.

But then, in August, I got contacted via LinkedIn to interview with a Kurdish company called Gateway for an iOS development position. I did the interview, and I could pass it! Right after that, they offered me the position. I immediately accepted it.

Now, I'm proudly working on a banking project there. And I'm so glad for those rejections that I got at the beginning of the year. Otherwise, I couldn't work in my current company, which is undoubtedly one of the best companies in the Kurdistan Region.

  • First-stage winner of my college's yearly tech festival

I've always wanted to create an app to help my colleagues in college. So, I created one. Luckily, there was a yearly tech festival that has been held for the first time in the college.

My project could be selected as the first-stage winner among 25 projects, and it got me some gifts. ๐ŸŽ You can see the announcement here.

I'm always proud of this achievement!

In April, I was participated in WWDC 2021 by submitting a meditation project. I rushed it because I was in the middle of my last-term examinations back then. Thus, it couldn't be selected as a winner.

And then, in August, I also participated in Rwanga Awards 2021 by submitting a motivation app. The app was a detailed and well-looking one. However, it got rejected because there were better projects that were submitted.

They were such an amazing experience for me. And of course, I can't wait to re-submit with better projects in 2022!

  • Learned tons of new iOS techniques

Since I started learning iOS development in 2019, it's been impossible to pass a month without learning new techniques and frameworks. My skills have gotten much better this year, and it's my top priority to improve them for the next year too!

  • One step away from changing my career

In March, I received an interview invitation from the Kurdistan Region Government in Erbil for a back-end position. Because I'd use Ruby there, I learned Ruby. However, there was some reason that stopped me from joining them. Above all, I preferred that it'd be better if I won't change my career from iOS to back-end at all.

I should mention they've got a great team up there, and I have some amazing friends and human beings that work there. They keep promising that their door is always open for me.

  • A much better mental health

Thanks to 2020's long-standing quarantines, I've experienced obsessive-compulsive disorder. I can't say I'm 100% healed from that mental disorder, but I'm 360ยฐ better than last year.

2021 has been an eventful year for me. And for the reasons above, it's the best year I've ever lived in.

I can't wait to see what 2022 brings for all of us! Happy new year, and stay safe.

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