2021 in recap
And a few updates
It’s finally that time of the year when I can sit back, reflect, and sip on some hot chocolate while I write a post on how the year panned out. While this activity does help me recount the good times, I am also able to figure out areas where I can improve in the coming year/s. This year is no different except for the fact that I’m putting my process (and its results) out in the public. Oh and also, this list is way more organized and detailed than my planner entry.
Paying it forward
A general theme for this year was to pay it forward. All the amazing opportunities that have come my way so far have been via open source contributions, community interactions, and mentorship. Whether it be via the informal mentoring cohort I initiated at the start of the year or getting involved as the co-organizer of the CNCF Student User Group, I wanted to offer up an open communication channel for people who had embarked on their journey in Open Source and were struggling to find direction.
Even with the various speaking opportunities and blogs, I have tried to make the content as accessible and as helpful to folks who are absolutely new to the topic. Of course, I might not have always succeeded. But I am glad to state that it has been as much of a passion project as it was at the start of the year!
Speaking opportunities
Throughout this year, I had the amazing fortune to speak at various events across the globe. The pandemic in all its glory ensured that all of it was from the comfort of my laptop screen. I’ve been in love with public speaking ever since I was a kid. This is because I believe when you share what you know with other folks, you understand the material better because you have to make it accessible to the audience. I even wrote a blog about my whole process.
That’s not to say I aced any of this at the get go. Technical glitches and my tendency to ramble are areas I struggle with even today. Nevertheless, I survived to tell the tale and I hope to be able to continue sharing my knowledge via this medium in the coming years, as well.
For talks that have been made publicly available, I’ve curated a YouTube playlist. You can check it out by clicking the link below.
To preserve the presentations I use during my sessions for any further reference, I’ve used a GitHub repo to archive them. This also serves an additional purpose of retrospectively analyzing and improving how I structure these sessions.
Writing/Publishing content
Anybody who knows me can vouch for the fact that I absolutely love writing. I may not have had the opportunity to write/publish as much as I’d have liked to, but the year-end has been a good start.
Working alongside folks on the Container Solutions blog, The New Stack, and Skedler, I’ve had an amazing time these past couple of months writing about various topics within the Cloud Native and Open Source ecosystems. Some of the blogs/articles are linked below.
One of the reasons why I do this is because like with public speaking, as a non-native English speaker, writing allows me to break down information in a way that helps me understand it better. Unlike public speaking though, there is an edit/backspace option always which makes it slightly more convenient for me to revise content (and add a note, of course) if anything goes wrong.
Newsletter mania
As the year progressed, I realized I had way too many open tabs and bookmarked tweets that I wanted to read and catch up on every day. Without an accountability tool, I also found it difficult to consume information contained in those bookmarks and tabs. Which is when it struck me that maybe there were some people who faced the same issue as I did.
Also, I am pretty sure I’m not the only one signing up for way too many newsletters at the start of the year and unsubscribing by November owing to the clutter that accumulates after my enthusiasm has died down. This is why I wanted for any newsletter that I started to be as useful as possible and is also how I came up with the highlight reels idea.
Friday four, the newsletter that I started in November, is a personal curation of the four most interesting highlights from the world of tech across the week. Curating it is, hands down, my most favourite part of the week because there are so many things to choose from! You can subscribe to it by clicking the link below.
I also created a discord server so that I could connect with folks who subscribed to my newsletter. Admittedly, this is a very new thing that I just started and isn’t something I am really good at.
My aim with the server was to seek feedback from folks who consume my newsletter and make the entire experience slightly interactive. Join in, even if you’re a casual reader and want to nerd out with us!
Co-leading the creation & review of KCNA exam
Speaking of nerding out, I was extremely fortunate to have been a part of co-leading the efforts for establishing and reviewing the KCNA exam curriculum along with some stellar folks from the cloud native ecosystem like Katie Gamanji, Chris Aniszczyk, and Jeffrey Sica.
Announced by the CNCF during KubeCon + CloudNative Con, North America, Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate is a pre-professional certification. Targeted at folks who are beginners to the cloud native ecosystem, the certification aims to prepare candidates to work with these technologies with a focus on Kubernetes and pursue other CNCF credentials like CKA, CKAD, CKS etc.
Co-chairing documentation for Kubernetes
Life does come full circle eventually. Starting off as a non-member contributor to the Kubernetes documentation back in 2020, I was (and honestly, still am) thrilled to be co-chairing the special interest group for documentation in the Kubernetes project.
In the two months that I’ve been co-chair, I’ve had the opportunity to learn not just stuff about the role itself but also newer things related to the documentation and Kubernetes, itself. It has been an enriching experience so far and I owe a big thank you to my co-chair and tech leads for nominating me and having my back.
Season 2 of being an AWS Community Builder
I learned a lot and had the opportunity to interact with some of the best minds within the AWS Community as part of being on the initial cohort of AWS Community Builders. With round two, I am hoping to continue my learning journey in this space and am grateful to Jason Dunn for this opportunity!
So, what’s next?
Cloud native tech, as usual, will still be a major focus area along with WebAssembly and Rust. I plan to share all of my learning via posts on dev.to, here, and LinkedIn. Please do subscribe on these platforms to stay updated when a post comes out if this is something on your radar for next year, as well.
As eventful and exciting as this year has been, I am looking forward to continue this journey in 2022 and hoping you’ll tag along!
For an optimal balance of quality shitposting and tech, follow me on Twitter at Divya_Mohan02.
