No, this isn’t about the end of the world, but the end of the year. I started writing here a year ago to make sure that I didn’t get eaten by grad school. I wanted to force myself to do something interesting every week so I wouldn’t become some kind of office-bound Gollum. And it worked. Whether it’s because of these posts or not, I’ve had a pretty great year. Today I want to review a bit of it, and next week I want to set some goals for 2013. I know I already did this once for the academic year, but apparently I live in the real world now, and apparently, in the real world, the year ends in December.
Things I did this year? The top one has to be finish my Master’s degree. it was a lot of work. There were moments when I didn’t think I could do it, and ones where I just wanted to walk away. But I did it, the largest project I’ve ever done on my own. I had support from other people, but every bit of research and every word was mine. It might be just a piece of paper, but it represents what I learned a lot about myself, about what I want, and about how to work in academia. It’s a piece of paper that’s going to help get me where I need to be.
I also helped organize Headshots from the Heart. It went from being a silly idea that I had to a real thing that raised real money for real kids. I don’t get to take credit for all of that, because it wouldn’t have happened without everyone else who was involved. We raised over $2,500 by doing something we love, playing games together. It doesn’t seem like a whole lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but that’s eight PS3s for kids to enjoy, which is pretty awesome. Next year is already in the works.
Most recently, I got a new job. I’m the Communications Coordinator for the University of Waterloo Faculty Association, which puts me in a position to work with brilliant people and help them share their ideas with the world. We’re breaking into blogging and other social media in the new year, and there’s more to come about that next week. Suffice it to say that I love the people I work with and the work that I’m doing, and it’s the kind of thing I want to do on a larger scale some day.
Those are just the major events though. I made new allies and new friends, got new family members, loved, and lost. I celebrated, and I cried. But all in all, I think I can say with authority that 2012 has been the best year of my life. I worked harder than I ever have before, and played harder too, but it was all worthwhile. Thanks to everyone who helped make it such an incredible year.