Hello, How has it been?

I bet if anyone told us how 2020 would turn out to be, we would certainly look at the person questioning the person’s sanity. Well, here we are, days into the new year. I’m making sure not if I should be hyped for this next year so as not to jinx it. I’m pretty sure many people feel that way too, right? 2020 was not what we expected, from the news of the Corona outbreak to the other bad news that came with it. 

Despite this, there was kind of a silver lining to be found in the cloud of 2020. Ingressive For Good (I4G) was created on July 1st to address the glaring inequities that exist within African tech ecosystems. Not too long after that, we heard of their partnership with Coursera to provide over 4000+ courses free, it was a wonderful opportunity, the statistics from it are quite great. Fast forward to September, the I4G monthly Community Challenge was launched and it was an opportunity for Developers and Designers to use their skills to solve problems around them. 

At this point, I feel I should show the pride in myself a little bit, yeah should. Oh well, a member of my community, I4G Circle University of Nigeria Nsukka (I4G UNN) was part of the team that won the first monthly Community Challenge. Moving to November another partnership was announced, this time with DataCamp, it’s not too late to join in if you haven’t already. 

So far so good, I4G has been touching lives and the result is there to show but then how has the journey been so far for you? You really don’t have to be part of I4G already for this question to be for you. This is targeted at any African interested in tech, whether techies, or yet-to-be techies. Do you feel you didn’t reach up to your expectation for the year? I do feel that way sometimes. Maybe it was good for you, you finally secured that job, congratulations from me. Maybe you haven’t yet, don’t give up, you could just be one application away from that job. They say, “No good thing comes easy”, this is a reflection of our society, where you have to prove your worth in order to be recognized. Maybe you are yet to see the results, please don’t give up, I believe in you. 

To the tech newbies, not too long ago, I was pretty much like y’all. I would observe discussions made by more advanced tech people and everything would seem like greek to be. Even now, there are some conversations I look at and they still seem strange to me, I see them as an opportunity to learn more though. So don’t be worried when it seems like you can’t comprehend something right now, time would come and you’ll have it at the tips of your fingers, you just have to be consistent. Maybe someone you started learning about web development with is already building amazing stuff with it while you’re yet to, remember everyone has their pace, know this and know peace.

There’s still more than enough time to do something amazing before the new year, you just might even get that job. So no time to rest, this is a wake-up call if you have been resting too much, and also a push to those who have been consistent. What better way to drive a point, than a strong motivational quote? Do well to drop your thoughts after reading, feel free to share too, see you next time. 

“Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.” — Charles F. Kettering