2023 Retrospective

“2023 was a year of change and growth. Have I ever changed this much before?”“2023 was a year of change and growth. Have I ever changed this much before?”

Graduation

March 2023. I finished life as a college student and was given time to carve out my own path.
Although I was not a computer science major, I had already decided before graduation that I would become a front-end developer, and I moved forward step by step.
I learned the basics of web front-end development through shallow theory courses and clone coding courses.

After learning basic front-end skills that could be used in practice,
I wanted to move into the stage of applying those skills and start my own project.

Starting the blog project

I thought, "Shouldn't a front-end developer have a blog of their own?"
So I decided to build one.

From March to April, I spent weekdays immersed in the blog project.
Unlike clone coding, where I solved fixed problems in a fixed environment, this project made me solve many unexpected problems in unexpected situations.
That gave me a new kind of fun in development.
Questions like "What if I add this feature to the blog?" and "What if I make users feel this?" gave me internal motivation and opened up new perspectives.

Completing my first side project

My first completed side project worked well.
I was happy that I had studied something and built something by myself.
But when I introduced the first blog to people around me, I realized that I was still inside my own well.

"Where do I search to find this blog?"
"I am not sure what this part does."

Most people who were not interested in development kindly focused on the good parts.
But thanks to a grateful friend who always spoke honestly, I realized something.

This project was trapped inside my own perspective.
I had not considered the perspective of other people who might feel discomfort.
I did not understand that developer convenience does not automatically create user convenience.

If even one friend could see several uncomfortable points right away,
it felt disappointing to leave the project as something that would only show its weaknesses to others.

That led me to think more deeply about the essence of a "blog service."
I organized what I needed: search engine exposure, dynamic metadata, and more.
Then I chose Next.js, which makes it easier to implement various rendering methods with React.

The development notes about Next.js became too long, so I am leaving a portfolio link.

First job

In May, I was lucky enough to get my first job at a blockchain startup.
I heard that confidence from the blog project left a good impression.

The new beginning made me think a lot.
I worried about whether I was good enough to get paid for my work.
At the same time, I felt excited about growing by working with teammates in a new environment.

When I started work, I spent a lot of time understanding the company's code and domain.

The development team consisted of three people: a blockchain developer, a backend developer, and me.
The team created a free and comfortable environment.
Instead of being a nervous junior afraid of mistakes, I was able to work proactively as a front-end developer.

Things I finally started to see

As I had hoped before getting a job, company work gave me a new kind of problem.
As I solved many problems, I gained a more mature perspective and started seeing front-end problems I could solve, such as bundlers, CI/CD, and optimization.

In July, I used that perspective to refactor and update the old blog project.
As I saw more and more things to fix, I sometimes felt ashamed that I had released the blog in that state.
I even temporarily removed it from my GitHub pins.

But that only meant I had grown and gained a better perspective.
The fact that I recognized the problems and fixed them was meaningful.
I do not need to feel ashamed of my past development or regret it.

Even trying without knowing much was something worth supporting.
Having many things to update meant I had chances to try new things.
Having many things to refactor meant I had chances to understand and apply better methods.

Continuing to care for an old project instead of abandoning it means I am sincere about it.
I am proud of the version of myself that keeps trying and failing, more than the old version of me who wasted time without growth or never even tried because of what others said. I want to remember this mindset.

The world stayed the same. My perspective changed.

The capability I gained as a front-end developer while working can be described as "development that values user experience."
Before working, I focused on completion. Now I focus on user experience.

There are many well-known objective reasons to focus on user experience.
But personally, the strongest reason is that I want people to use even the small features I make with ease.

I also think valuing user experience is one of the most important values not only in development, but also in services.
This is a story from when I visited a dentist because of a jaw disc problem.

After the treatment, the doctor gave me a printed sheet summarizing the lifestyle rules that jaw disc patients should follow.
He explained things that patients might wonder about even before I noticed those questions myself.
At the front desk after payment, a staff member smiled kindly and gave me a 2024 calendar while wishing me a happy new year.
As I left the clinic, I think I wrote a Naver receipt review for the first time in my life.

It may sound small, and it may even feel obvious.
The doctor had already completed the treatment, and the service could have ended there.
But I could feel the care and thought behind explaining what I might be curious about with a kind smile,
and behind printing the lifestyle rules in a readable way.

Because of those small but careful gestures, I became a potential customer of that dental clinic.
By writing a review, I also helped attract other potential customers who might visit after reading it.
That was the effect of a service creating a good user experience.

There is kindness that is given directly by meeting people in person.
But there is also indirect kindness that can be given through UI that considers user convenience, libraries that reduce discomfort, and automation that improves workflows.
I want to focus on giving that kind of kindness in the ways I can.

A new challenge

After my first company life from May to October ended, I prepared for a new challenge in November.
I finished story games that had been piling up and truly rested without doing anything.
After enough rest, I started preparing my resume and portfolio in December.

I thought preparing a new resume would be quick, but it took more time than expected.
I deleted and rewrote resumes I had worked on for a whole week.
At times I pursued minimalism too much and failed to include what I had done.
At other times, abstract claims made the resume less convincing.
After many rounds of trial and error, I finished the resume.
However, I plan to spend more time on JavaScript theory, related knowledge, and algorithms, so finding the next job may take a while.

Closing

2023 was full of many events.
The old me mostly lived by flowing along with things.
But 2023 was a year when I carved out my own path, so I think it will stay with me for a long time.

Small commitments

Blog

1. Refactor the blog with the Next.js App Router.
2. Write deeper blog posts, and also write posts that contain my own thoughts.
3. Implement an algorithm to prevent anonymous comment spam.
4. Buy a blog domain as soon as I succeed in getting a job.

Personal

1. Do not lose people who have given me a lot just because I become too absorbed in work. Return more than I received.
2. Exercise consistently. My body is too thin.
3. Solve one algorithm problem every day.
4. Watch one movie a month and write a comment on Watcha Pedia.

Thank you for reading this long post.
I sincerely hope you achieve what you want in 2024 and have a happy year.