Lessons From A Wild Ride: Reflecting on 2024

 2024 was quite a crazy year for me. From January to December, it has been a wild ride. In this blog post, I'll give a summary of some of the highlights and lessons I've learned. Here goes...

The year started off not so well for me, as circumstances had me spending the first two to three months at home instead of resuming a new academic session. I answered many questions about my stay at home 🥲, but I also used those three months wisely. Aside from tons of house chores, I got myself into doing a lot of things.

Firstly, I got into reading books I love, which I later found out were called Middle Grade Books – they're books for children aged 8-12. This started around early December 2023. Then, sometimes around late December, while randomly scrolling on Instagram, I came across a lady, @whatafomareads, whose Instagram account I'll call a bookish goodness. It's full of MG recommendations, some of which I've read and enjoyed. I also came across other random accounts whose owners talked about nothing but books, specifically Middle Grade. Then, I found out about "Bookstagram" and felt motivated to start my own. (For some reasons I don't know, the account got blocked... it really hurts because I got over 300 followers within two months). I created a Goodreads account to keep track of my reading and made sure to drop book reviews on every book I read, though I couldn't keep up with writing reviews as time went by, both on my Bookstagram and on my Goodreads. I participated in the Goodreads Yearly Challenge, aiming to read 50 books this year. Despite the chaos, I'm thrilled to have achieved my goal!🤭, I'll admit, reaching my goal of 50 books was a stretch. By December, I'd only managed to read 20 due to academic commitments. But then, I had a 2-week break and... well, let's just say I binge-read 30 books in 8 days! Don't ask me how – my sanity (and sleep schedule) are still recovering 😂.

A glimpse of my Goodreads account. I don't know why it says I was last active by October though 😂.

Then by April, I started writing blogs. I wanted it to be about book reviews (hence the name of my blog site - Fike Reads, which I'll soon change, now that it's not just about books anymore). One of my close friends suggested I talk about my diverse interests aside from books. It felt weird at first because I'm not much of a writer, if you've noticed. But then, there's no harm in trying, I had the highest number of views on my blog about friendship  and food  and that motivated me to keep writing about different topics, hence this blog.

One of my close friends introduced me to this speech-to-text tool; I honestly don't know how to describe it, but we call it "intron." I was able to earn a decent income for myself while at home. Trust me, it's a whole lot of work. You correct translations, record audio, give medical questions, or rate medical answers, and the likes. It's pretty stressful, but sometimes worth it when you get your money in the end. I treated it as a freelance opportunity to stay occupied.

What intron looks like.

And yes, I love drawing, even if I'm not good at it. It's what I use to unwind and relax. So, I got myself an accountability partner to help assist me in achieving some of my goals, especially my drawing. We agreed on drawing 52 images this year. Sadly I only have 43😂.

Some of my drawings.

I won't forget that academically, this year was overwhelming. Remember, I started with the fact that I was at home for two to three months instead of school. Yeah! I finally resumed school sometimes in the middle of March (of course, I was so happy I was getting out of the house; little did I know what I was in for). So, from March till December 20th, I was in school, and we were rushed beyond normal. School hindered my progress toward some goals, and I also struggled with accessing basic necessities (light and water to be specific 😑).

I joined my school's press club in late 2023, one thing or the other would get me into designing flyers or making random graphic designs, and I became hooked, that I wanted to improve my skills by 2024. During my 3-month break, I practiced graphic design and received feedback ( constructive criticism I must say) from others, and I realized, I have a whole lot to learn. Here's a few of the designs; 

This one was for the club's WhatsApp TV

Made this for a friend.

This happened when I was bored, it's not real😏.

There's a lot more to say about this year, but I'm not ready to write a memoir yet. So, let's talk about the lessons I've learned so far... there's a lot I've learned but let's stick to just 6 for this blog.

✓ Nurturing a strong relationship with God. The benefits are countless.

✓Regarding friendship, I'll hold on to the things I mentioned in this blog (4 Lessons I Learned From My Messy Friendships ).

✓This year, "humility" was one quality I was willing to work on. I'm still a work in progress. Observing the lifestyle of humble individuals around me, I learned that humility is essential in building good, meaningful relationships with those around you.

✓Giving makes one happy, but don't forget to take care of yourself.

✓To achieve a goal you must put your heart, soul and effort into it. 

✓Never underestimate anyone. The person you least expect might be the one to help you when you need it most. Be kind and genuine with everyone - you never know who might make a difference in your life. 

This year, I took a step out of my comfort zone and told someone 'I love you' – in a platonic sense, of course! I've realized I struggle to express my appreciation and affection for others in person, even when it's genuine, I mean I'd always prefer to wait and tell the person online. I'd like to work on being more open and vocal about my feelings, especially with my closest friends

That's a wrap for today! As the year comes to a close, I'd love to hear from you - what lessons did you learn this year? What would you like to work on or improve on next year? Share your reflections in the comments below! Until next time, stay amazing, and I'll catch you all in my next blog post!🥂