Year in Review: 2022

Writing this from Surabaya, back home for the new year. 2022 was the year my undergrad chapter finally ended — and honestly, the year I felt like an adult for the first time. Here’s how it went.

School

Semester eight. All of it pointed at one thing: the skripsi.

Most of the first half of the year was thesis and nothing else — reading, building, rewriting, second-guessing. Then the sidang, which I’d been dreading for months and which turned out to be the calmest I’d felt in a while once I actually started talking. I nailed it. A few months later, wisuda — the cap, the gown, the photos, the whole thing. Four years of Informatics at Universitas Surabaya, done.

Right after, I started putting together applications for grad school (S2). Not ready to stop being a student, apparently.

Life

The big one at home: my mom had knee surgery. Watching a parent go through something like that reshuffles what you think is important, fast.

For Lebaran I did the long mudik to kampung halaman — Tidore and Ternate, North Maluku. There’s a specific kind of quiet in going back to where your family is from, eating food that tastes like childhood, and remembering you come from somewhere. Then, at the end of the year, back to Sorong for the holidays.

Travel

• Bromo, February. Cold, dark, absurdly early, completely worth it. That sunrise is a cliché because it’s true.
• Jakarta, five days. My reward to myself after finishing the skripsi. No agenda, just the city.
• Tidore & Ternate. The mudik — half travel, half homecoming.

Hobbies & games

Picked up billiards this year — something about lining up a shot that quiets the brain. Also spent real time on Valorant and it paid off: hit Gold 3. Not pro numbers, but I earned every rank.

And the football. Argentina won the World Cup, which means the GOAT finally lifted the trophy. Watching Messi get his ending was the best sports moment I’ve ever seen live — I’m not embarrassed to say I got emotional. My Steam year in review has the rest of the damage.

Gear

The desk got a serious upgrade. New Logitech G213 keyboard and G402 mouse, on a very generic LG monitor that did the job. Also finally replaced the phone — Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G — and paired it with a Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, which immediately made me smug about closing rings.

Carrying into 2023

• Get into grad school, and actually commit to the switch it implies.
• Keep the hobbies that turn my brain off — billiards, aim trainers, whatever.
• Call home more. This year made that clear.

2022 was the year I finished something big and let myself enjoy it. Whatever S2 turns into, I’m walking in lighter than I expected.