Recap of 2022
31 Dec, 2022
Photo credit @pazzero from unsplash.
Today is the end of 2022, I remember the last time I wrote a year-end recap was in 2017. Time flies, and I can't believe it's been 5 years already.
This year was full of ups and downs - from happiness and sadness to frustration. It was an uphill struggle, but there were still a lot of things I want to record. Here's a list of some highlights:
# Quit job and Get new job π¨π»βπ»
I finished my research and development substitute service (RDSS) in November last year. I had been working at Yahoo for 3 years, since I was 28 (now I'm 29 π₯Ή), I thought it was time for a change before getting old. I wanted to explore a field that I'm more interested in and that also could offer a better salary.
Even though I really enjoyed my time at Yahoo, I knew it was time to move on. I leave Yahoo in March, then I decided to join a crypto exchange Bybit in April as my next stop.
# Layoff π€¦π»ββοΈ
This year's market hasn't been good, and the Luna Crash made things worse for the crypto market. In June, my new company announced that they needed to downsize the team, so almost 95% of employees in Taiwan were laid off, including me.
I never thought I would be laid off in one day, and I was initially sad and frustrated. However, Bybit provided a decent severance package for those affected by the layoff, which helped cover my basic living expenses for a couple of months also gave me more time to think about my career path.
# Quarrel with my parents π«
I don't want to go into too many details. I remember that my relationship with my parents became strained in February. We had several arguments because I felt like I knew what I was doing and they disagreed. After a particularly heated argument in August, I ended up moving out and renting a new place.
After 3 months, I realized that this wasn't a sustainable or effective way to handle the situation and it wasted money, so I ended my lease. (The other reason: I found a new job and planned to move again.) Although things have improved between us since then, it has been a difficult process as we have been in conflict for over 8 months.
# Traveling π€
Traveling can always heal me. These trips were memorable for me.
- π Had camping with my girlfriend for 5 times.
The most favorite camping area in 2022.
- π Traveled half Taiwan for 6 days with my girlfriend in July. Went to Liuqiu Island, Taitung and Hualien.
Coast in Taimali, Taiwan.
Taken a rest at the side of the ε°δΉη·
- π« Taken a trip to the United States with my lab mates in September, visited LA and SF.
Sunset in LA.
Backer Beach, in SF.
# Look for a new job π
I decided to take a break for at least 3 months after being laid off. During this time, I planned to travel a lot, ride more bikes, do lots of LeetCode problems. I also planned to seek my next job during this break, I wanted my next job to be entirely in English and fully remote so that I could have the opportunity to work with people from all around the world, which would also be beneficial for my career. The last, my ideal onboarding date for my next job would be in either October or November.
Riding bike 4~5 times a week in July.
I applied to 3 companies in August and was rejected by all of them, which left me feeling a little frustrated. After returning from the United States, I tried my hardest to do more and more LeetCode, review my JavaScript knowledge, and prepare behavioral questions. I applied to 7 companies and received offers from 2 of them; the others were rejected.
The hiring process for the job I interviewed for this time was long and contained at least 3 parts, with the longest having 7 parts. It took a long time, which made me feel like it was tough to find an ideal job. To summarize, the result of finding a new job was not very good, applied total 9 companies and rejected from 7 of them. My ideal onboarding date did not work out either.
However, the job market in the second half of the year got worse, with many hiring freezes and layoffs. I was lucky to find my ideal job in the end, I decided to join PayPay as my next stop. I will be also moving to Japan in March.
# Exercise π΅π»
Because of the pandemic, I only ride bike in most of the time. But I found biking didn't help me burn fat very well. Therefore, I returned to the gym in November. Also, thanks to my girlfriend's birthday gift of a Garmin Fenix-7 in September, I can easily record exercises and have 52 active days in 2022 since I wear it.
Garmin Fenix-7
# Investment π
Almost 100% amount of my investment was put in crypto. Compared to 2021, the net profit was significantly lower. Since market was a bear market, I seldom trade this year, just researched and implemented arbitrage code and be a HODLer. However, FTX had bankruptcy in November and I was affected.
As a user of FTX since 2019, I was initially loyal to this exchange and did not believe the the FUD news at first. However, I eventually withdrew some of my money as a precautionary measure, and now I'm glad I did that. However, I still ended up losing 35% of my money due to this unfortunate event. This experience has taught me not to completely trust a centralized exchange and now I keep all of my cryptocurrency in a Ledger wallet.
Sum up
It was a really difficult year, with everything from layoff to arguments to job searching to losing money. But of course, there were also happy parts as well. It just wasn't easy, but I made it through and realized that life doesn't have to be a smooth path. Goodbye 2022, I'm not sure what the next year will bring, but I'm ready for whatever it may be.
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