Motivation
As we end this year, I want to share my journey of growth and transformation during the second half of 2024. I choose to write this reflection because I believe in the power of introspection - it’s a way to understand our growth and potentially inspire others on their own paths forward.
Exploring Beyond Traditional Structures
June 2024 marked a pivotal moment when I concluded my contract with Statistics Korea. This decision to step outside of the public sector, after transitioning directly from graduate school, wasn’t made lightly. The question “Am I ready to chart my own path?” constantly echoed in my mind, especially given my aim to transition into Canada’s private sector as a data professional - a significant shift from my one-and-a-half years of experience.
What propelled me forward wasn’t a certainty but rather the realization that comfort zones, while safe, might hold me back from pursuing new challenges. Throughout my life - from preparing for college entrance exams to starting graduate studies in statistics, and now pursuing my Canadian dream - my mom has always told me “You can do this” even when there was absolutely no proof of it. Her simple yet unwavering belief, which has carried me through every major transition in my life, along with encouragement from others, became the foundation I needed to step into the unknown once again.
Professional Growth & Community Engagement
The second half of 2024 became a journey of discovery, where each month brought new growth opportunities. After leaving my structured environment, I joined the International Job Search Study Group (“Potato Study”) in July-August. Meeting regularly with people who shared similar goals became my anchor during this transition. Our sessions weren’t just about job searching - they helped me establish a more vivid vision and develop concrete action plans while maintaining a positive mindset through mutual encouragement.
This journey with the Potato Study team came full circle when I transitioned from being just a participant to becoming a contributor. After extensively researching LinkedIn profile optimization, I realized this knowledge could benefit others. Currently, we’re developing materials to help people create more compelling and attractive LinkedIn profiles, allowing me to give back to a community that supported me when I needed it most.
October brought an unexpected turn when I began mentoring sessions. I’m particularly grateful to Chong, who, despite never having met me in person, took the time to understand my goals and connected me with Joey, an invaluable mentor. Joey’s industry insights opened my eyes to new possibilities, particularly in cloud services, leading me to obtain both AWS Cloud Practitioner and AI Practitioner certifications. Through our sessions, Joey also emphasized the importance of personal projects in showcasing practical skills. Following his advice, I completed a project titled “Web Scraping and Text Analysis of Travel Trends on Blogs”. While I have another project in the planning stage with its repository set up, it remains a work in progress that I aim to complete in early 2025.
The Data Next Level Challenge in November, focusing on Growth Hacking, helped me better understand job requisitions and clarified various roles within the industry. December, typically slower for hiring, became dedicated to technical preparation through the SQL Advent Calendar Challenge and the Dale Study Group for LeetCode practice. These daily coding challenges and consistent study sessions revealed a crucial insight into my learning style - I thrive on steady, daily progress rather than sporadic bursts of activity.
Building Digital Presence
Throughout this period, I committed to sharing my journey and insights through consistent content creation. On Medium, my articles have resonated with readers - from technical tutorials to personal reflections. My AWS certification guides garnered significant engagement, showing me that sharing authentic experiences and technical insights truly connects with others on similar journeys. This effort extended to LinkedIn, where my professional content and growing network have shown that authenticity in sharing experiences resonates deeply with others in the tech community.
My personal website evolved from a simple resume page into a full-fledged Hugo-powered blog, thanks to constructive feedback from my Potato Study group members. While currently built on a template, I look forward to further customization in the coming year to better reflect my style. Looking ahead, I want to challenge myself to write more technical deep-dive posts, especially about causal inference - a field I studied in graduate school but haven’t felt confident enough to write about until now.
Personal Development: Mind, Body, and Language
My journey with physical wellness through pilates and yoga has been transformative over the past year and a half. While pilates came naturally with its machine-supported exercises, yoga presented a different kind of challenge. Initially finding it demanding and unenjoyable, my perspective shifted dramatically after meeting my current instructor. Through her guidance, I learned to accept the inherent challenges rather than resist them. Now, mastering poses I once thought impossible brings an entirely new kind of joy and achievement. This journey has taught me valuable lessons about mindfulness and staying calm in difficulties.
Language learning has been one of my most enjoyable and consistent pursuits this year. I’ve maintained a 543-day streak on Duolingo for French and completed 100 hours of English conversation on Cambly. While I started using “My Light” for French learning in March with great enthusiasm, my interest gradually faded. One of my goals for next year is to restart this practice with renewed commitment. The reason I find such joy in language learning and continue to pursue it is simple: I love conversing with people from diverse cultural backgrounds and find it fascinating to learn more about the world through these interactions.
Looking Forward: 2025 Vision
Looking back at 2024, I was finally able to leave my company and face this period of change with less anxiety thanks to the people around me. In the coming year, I want to become someone who is kinder to both myself and those around me.
For 2025, I’m keeping my goals simple and practical. First, I want to work on being kinder to myself - especially when things don’t go as planned. Second, I hope to build more resilience in small, everyday moments. This past year has taught me that progress isn’t always linear, and that’s perfectly fine. Some days you move forward, some days you take a step back, and that’s just part of the journey. As I step into 2025, I’m moving forward with my plans to work in Canada, taking each challenge and opportunity as they come, and continuing to grow both professionally and personally.