The beginning of the New Year is always a time of reflection for me. A time to look back on the previous year – to See what worked, examine what I was able to accomplish, memorable events that happened along the way, and look ahead to the upcoming year.
When I look back on 2022, I can definitely say that I have a lot to be grateful for. The most memorable thing that happened for me in 2022 is that I got to travel back to Lagos, Nigeria to to celebrate my dad’s 92nd birthday with him. It was so amazing being home and being able to spend time with my dad and my extended family back in Nigeria. Of all the trips I took in 2022, this trip to Lagos was the most emotional for me.
Other memorable events included plenty of family time with family reunions in both Texas and Georgia. I also got to work on several projects that I plan to debut this year. After taking a break from speaking at conferences due to pandemic, I got back on stage at the 2022 Refractec Conference.
2022 was also filled with plenty of weekend adventures including hiking and road trips. I also tried my hand at learning how to swim – that is still a work in progress! Along with all of that also came several low points as we experienced a few deaths in the family.
As I look ahead to 2023, my theme for the year is to Create Consistently. I plan to be more intentional with how I spend my time and put in more effort into creating helpful content including tutorials, videos reviews, and sharing resources on that can help women who are trying to transition into product design or into the tech field. Here are 5 things that I plan to do and share with you in the upcoming year.
- Create more educational content – about product, design, web accessibility, and behind-the-scenes of working intake as a woman, and what that experience is really like.
- Speak at 10 Conferences – Due to the pandemic, I paused traveling and speaking at conferences. Now that the outside world is open up again, I plan to start travelling and speaking at conferences around the country and around the world, and he maybe even do a TedX Talk. Now that would be awesome!
- Become a published author – I have a few ideas for books that I plan to write and illustrate this year. They include two children’s book series and an adult graphic novel. In addition to that, I also plan to finally start writing my book on accessibility fundamentals, so I am looking forward to that.
- Learn to swim – one life skill that I absolutely want to add is to learn how to swim. I have started taking swimming lessons, but it has been a little bit of a struggle due to my fear of the water. So, this year, I plan to finally face and conquer my fear and learn how to swim. Who knows, maybe I can even go swim with the dolphins – which is a bucket list item for me!
- STEM activities for children – I finally have my nephews living close by. They are 8 and 5 – perfect ages to introduce them to STEM learning and activities. So, follow along with us as they learn about robotics, complete experiments, learn how to code and much more!
As you can see, I am looking forward to 2023! There is so much I plan to accomplish this year and I am eager to make them happen. What about you? What are your plans for the year? Any projects you are looking forward to? What are some of your goals for the year? What can I help you accomplish??
Stay tuned and have a productive and prosperous new year!!
