Year In Review 2025: The only bad choice is the absence of choice
Here's a brief review of how my 2025 went.
Once again, we're at the end of the year, and it's nice to read people's Year In Review..
I did it last year: Dev Retro 2024, so I’ll do it again.
Let's thank God for keeping us healthy and alive this year.
Year of Decisions
This year was mainly about making decisions. What should I study? What should I do next? What am I interested in? What can I do, and what do I want?
If you've read my Year In Review 2024 (called Dev Retro 2024), you'll know that I set some goals based on what I knew at that time. Well, I changed some of them this year.
So, I'll talk about my daily job, what I did in my free time, and the decisions I made.
At work
Compared to 2024, not much has changed. Just take a look at the section At work from my Year in Review of 2024.
I'm still a backend developer working on some services at Uptimise, a startup I joined in 2022. We officially launched the product this year, and it's been great working with everyone. This year, I didn't do any major refactoring or big projects. We focused on making the two versions, Uptimise Benin and Uptimise Ivory Coast, more stable. There's still work to do, but we're making progress.
Now, let's talk about my personal projects and what I did in my free time..
Networking: Cisco Networking Basics
I'm not good in networking, and everyone knows it. So this year, I decided to change that and learn the basics of networking.
From June to July, I took the Cisco Networking Basics course. I worked on it during nights and weekends, and it went well. I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot and now feel less clueless when talking about networking at work, configuring my router, or handling network tasks on my computer..
I wrote a series about it here: Networking Basics
Operating System Engineering
It's no secret that I'm interested in system engineering and have a background in embedded systems. Currently, I'm a web (backend) developer, but I really want to switch to this part of the industry. Will I do it? I don't know. The only thing I know is that I want it, and I'll try to make it happen. Failure is part of the game, just like success, right?
After taking the Computer Architecture and Organization course (From Nand to Tetris) in 2024, I decided to move to the next step: Operating System Design and Implementation. The goal is to understand OS concepts and contribute to the Linux Kernel.
So, in November, I started the MIT Course on OS Fall 2025 (https://pdos.csail.mit.edu/6.1810/2025/schedule.html). It's 15 weeks of lectures with labs, books, and papers to complete. I'm currently in week 3. Yes, the lessons and labs are not easy to complete, at least for me, but I'm doing my best 😅.
Blogging
I restarted blogging in the middle of this year. My goal was to write regularly, aiming for 1 or 2 blog posts per month about my work. It didn't go exactly as planned, but it wasn't bad at all. This year, I wrote 9 articles on Networking and OS. These articles cover what I learned in those courses.
The good thing is that I wrote at my own pace: 1 or 2 articles per month, or more if I could. I wrote a little bit whenever I had time, like writing 10 lines at night or spending an hour on an article on Saturday. The idea is to make it a part of my daily routine..
Social Media post: LinkedIn and Twitter
Some of my friends, Trinité (my Lead), Fréjus (our Product Designer), Alade, and Cissé, advised me to start posting about my progress on LinkedIn. So, that's what I did. It helps me connect with people who share my interests. Mostly, I share summaries of the articles I wrote on these two networks.
My LinkedIn: Tawaliou ALAO
My Twitter: @TawalMc
Rejection for Master Application
In the section titled Rejection for Master Application in my Year In Review 2024, I explained that I was rejected for a Master's in Embedded Systems through Campus France and for Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at CMU Rwanda. I decided to reapply for ECE this year. So, yes, I reapplied, and guess what? I got rejected again. Why? My application wasn't outstanding, so I guess that's the truth. Maybe I didn't do something right, or my background doesn't align well with the courses, or my path isn't impressive. Anyway, I don't care anymore 😂. I applied to a few other universities, like King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and got rejected too 😂..
And some problems arise: Should I apply for Campus France (Licence 3) and do everything to leave the country 😂? Or should I stay and pursue a master's degree here? Should I even pursue a master's degree at all?
You know, when you wake up with these kinds of thoughts and questions in your mind, it's hard to stay focused. The combination of the unknown, fear of bad choices, and failures increases indecision.
So I did something I often do in situations like this: I asked for advice from elders. It's the same thing: don't fear failure, don't fear making bad choices, fear not making a choice at all..
So I made two decisions:
Stay. No more applications, at least for a master's abroad.
Go all-in on system programming. Put all my effort into this field. That's why, in the sections above, I mentioned that I started the OS Engineering course by MIT..
Is this a good choice? Will it pay off? I don’t know.
Right now, I mostly care about the process rather than the results.
There are also many reasons behind my decision to focus on System Programming. In a future article, I’ll discuss some of these reasons that motivate me to choose this path..
To give you a hint, here are two of them::
I currently need time, I need to have full control over my free time and the freedom to study system programming.
Try hard and take risks to achieve it. This article by Aaron Francis: What if you tried hard explained it
I wonder what would happen if you gave it all you had and even risked embarrassing yourself if it didn't work out.
Aaron Francis (https://aaronfrancis.com/2024/what-if-you-tried-hard-dac139a5)
What for the next (2026, 2027, …) ?
To be honest, as usual, I don't have clear, well-defined plans that I begin at the start of the year. No, nothing like that. I just have some important goals. I usually start working in this direction from October (3 months before the new year). This helps me adjust based on how things unfold.
So for the next few years:
Be consistent in blogging, aiming for at least 1 or 2 articles per month
Get involved in open source projects (System Programming)
Linux Kernel
Read at least 6 papers on Operating System available on:
- Operating System Design and Implementation (OSDI) by USENIX
Last Words
A few things to keep in mind:
Things don’t always go as planned, so it's good to be flexible.
Try hard at whatever interests you. At least give it a shot.
Be patient, seriously.
Avoid comparisons, as they only create frustration and prevent you from focusing on yourself.
Make choices, even if they might seem silly. Make decisions based on what you know, want, care about, and fear. Don’t hold back when you need to decide.
Sometimes, or often, life isn't easy, and that's just how it is.
And have hope.
There are many people I want to think about this year, from my parents, my closest friends, and my girlfriend to my colleagues and elders. But there will be a dedicated blog post for that in the future (I hope).
Share your Year in Review with me. It inspires me..
