Year review:2024

A thunderous beginning

Jumping a bit ahead, this year definetely had a rocky start.

It began with a trip to Bruges, Belgium, where I celebrated New Year with my girlfriend. Bruges is beautiful, compact, and increadibly charming city. I had dreamd of visiting it ever since highschool, after watching In Brugges. I think both of us were excited as Ken in this movie about the city, haha!

We explored the cobbled streets, visited the famous Belfry, enjoyed a boat ride on the canals, and, of course, tried delicious belgian waffles.

I even had a moment to marvel at the cozy alcoves in Queen Astrid Park.

well-known hilarious dialog about alcoves

But shortly after we returned, I was laid off from my job. It felt like the year was changing course before it had even begun.

A new adventure

The job search didn't deliver all offers at once. There were weeks between responses, and I had to carefully navigate multiple opportunities. I knew deep down that I was waiting for one specific offer. Even when other opportunities came with higher compensation, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was meant for something else — a place where I could grow and be part of a storied culture.

And so, I joined Microsoft.

For context, the companies I'd worked at before felt like Lilliputians compared to this Gulliver. Starting this new chapter felt monumental.

My anxiety intensified

I think almost everyone has faced it at some point. For me, it hit hard during the early months at Microsoft. The excitement of starting a new job was mixed with a stress, especially when I had to introduce myself to over a hundred people on a monthly call of our organization in MSFT, where I asked to tell a few fun facts about myself. Sounds simple, but moments like that can freeze me in place if I'm not prepared.

At a company like this, it's easy to assume everyone else is smarter, more experienced, and more capable. And honestly, many of them are — I've met some incredibly talented people here. But I've also realized that there are many just regular engineers, trying best and continually learning.

Microsoft actively supports a growth mindset. Events like Hackathons and Learning Days (happen once a month), create space to explore, experiment, and improve skills. On those days, normal work pauses, and we're encouraged to learn something new—whether it's a framework, a tool, or a better approach to a problem.

It's one of the things I appreciate most about working here.

Relocation and new hobbies

This year also brought significant changes on the home front. I moved from Brno to Prague. Anyone familiar with Prague knows how challenging it is to find an apartment here — and how painful it is to pay those prices without a relocation budget.

Brno was home for nearly eight years. I knew every corner of the city, played hockey in an amateur league, and had ice rinks within walking distance of my apartment. Hockey has always been a passion of mine; I truly believe it's the best team sport.

Unfortunately, moving to Prague meant leaving behind my league and team. Hockey here exists, of course, but the amateur scene isn't quite the same. Most training sessions are early in the morning, which isn't ideal for my schedule.

To fill the gap, I took up swimming — and I wish I'd started sooner! It's been transformative, both physically and mentally. Swimming feels like meditation to me. I joined a small coached group, and the competitive atmosphere pushes me to improve.

In less than six months, I've seen incredible progress: swimming 2 kilometers in about 35 minutes and sprinting 25 meters in 13 seconds.

My goals for next year? Improve my technique, beat my records, and finally learn the butterfly.

New family member

One of the most heartwarming highlights of the year was adopting our cat, Krosh.

Initially, we had our hearts set on another kitten after seeing an ad online. But as we were en route to pick him up, the seller informed us he'd already been sold. My girlfriend was heartbroken, and we couldn't understand why someone would break an agreement like that.

But as it turned out, it was fate.

Soon after, we found Krosh, and now I can't imagine having any other cat. Getting a cat is like playing the lottery — you never know their personality until they're home. But we lucked out. Krosh is sweet, playful, curious, fearless (even around the vacuum cleaner), and incredibly calm at the vet.

He's exactly the companion we hoped for.

Krosh, 6 months old

Tooling got improved

This year, I also invested time into improving my tooling setup. When you use something daily, it's worth optimizing.

I've been using Vim motions for a couple years, and they remain a cornerstone of my workflow. Until this year, I relied on pre-configured Neovim distributions like Astronvim. But I finally took the plunge and built my own configuration from scratch, fine-tuning every detail to fit my needs.

I also worked on improving my typing speed, turning it into a fun challenge through games like Glyphica Typing Survival and pracited typing on AgileFingers.

Some other tools I adopted this year include:

And, of course, countless CLI tools I found useful!

Got on the Rust learning path

I finally started learning Rust this year. It's something I'd been putting off for ages, but I'm glad I took the plunge. While I'm still in the early stages, I'm beyond baby steps now. Here's hoping 2025 brings even more progress.

Algorithms and Date structures

During my job search, I realized I needed a refresher on algorithms and data structures. So, I enrolled in this this yandex course this summer.

I'll admit, I am usually skeptical about online courses. But this one blew me away. It was challenging, well-structured, and incredibly effective. The sprint-based format, peer reviews, and well-designed test cases ensured I wasn't just solving problems — I was understanding them.

Summary

This year was full of change, growth, and surprises. While not all moments felt positive at first, I'm grateful for where they led me.

Travel more — something I missed out on this year.

Here's to another year of learning, exploring, and growing!