2024 in Review - Tony Ward

Wow, this year has really flown by. It feels like this was a huge growth-year. 2024 has been great for our family and I'm excited to see what 2025 brings.

Here are some things I've reflected on today around 2024.

Professionally

In 2024, I became the lead of 7 full-time engineers working on a new Web Component based Design System using lit. My team and I threw ourselves into the deep end, learning Web Components in late 2023. I'm really proud of what we've built. I'm looking forward to open sourcing it in Q1 of 2025.

I also got promoted to Senior II this year at CrowdStrike (their ladder is: Eng I, Eng II, Eng III, Senior I, Senior II, Principal). This year I learned how important it is to take ownership of big problems. Even if you're wrong or make a mistake, the fact that you own a problem and are willing to iterate towards a solution goes a long way.

This is one piece of advice I'd give anyone looking to advance their career - if you hear of a problem at work that piques your interest, don't be afraid to sign yourself up to solve it. You'll learn a ton. Working with different stakeholders and being the "captain of a ship" provides a lot of risk/reward. It's not always sunshine and rainbows, but it definitely helps advance your career and widens your impact at an organization.

Personally

Now on to some personal stuff...

Writing

I wrote (here!) at least once a month since February. Check out my previous articles if you're interested! I really enjoy it. I hope to keep it up in 2025, but maybe not as frequently.

Health

I started taking my health more seriously. I went to the doctor more often for longstanding issues or concerns I've had based on my family history. I'm getting older, and unfortunately I can begin feeling it.

Gaming

Gaming kind of fell off for me in 2024. I played Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and really loved it, but no other games really pulled me in. I'm not sure if I'm getting older and less interested in them, or if it was just a slow year for gaming. I assume the latter. In the last month I have been playing Marvel Rivals though, and that's been great! I'm looking forward to Death Stranding 2, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and a new title from Sony Santa Monica.

TV and Film

Arcane season two was amazing. It is definitely one of my top 5 television shows of all time. I thought Fallout was excellent too. I loved the humor and vibe it had throughout. I watched Sonic 1, 2, and 3 this year and was blown away by how much I actually loved it. I think it's my favorite video game adaptation for a movie... ever? In 2025, I'm looking forward to Severance season two and The Last of Us to continue.

Music

When it comes to music, I'm still listening to a lot of Sleep Token. I recently started listening to Bilmuri, despite hating country, but now I think I may like it. Here are my top artists according to Apple Music:

This year was awesome for music. So many great songs. It was next on the list, but holy shit, Arcane's season two album was SO GOOD! So many catchy tunes.

Disembodied Tyrant is probably one of my favorite bands now. Musician Mansion Season Two was great - I want more! I think I may start playing guitar again, but we'll see. I always talk myself out of it, but I think it'd be fun to get back into it again.

Vacations

We took a vacation to Disney World earlier in 2024. We drove down to Nashville as well, which was fun. As a family, we've spent a lot of fun time together and really enjoyed each other's company. I'm looking forward to more family time in 2025, and hopefully some more vacations!

I dropped Twitter after Elon took over and haven't had Facebook since 2017. I've been pretty anti social-media for a while now, but Bluesky is feeling like old tech Twitter again. I'm having a great time. I hope it stays this way! You can find me here. I'm hopeful that Bluesky can remain awesome, but I'm also ready to drop it at any moment.

House Work

Now that my son is four years old and I have a bit more free time on my hands, I started fixing more things myself rather than paying someone. For example, fixing some drywall and painting, caulking, doing yard work, and the like. I've gotten more comfortable fixing things in our house, which has been great. It turns out a lot of it is pretty easy if you watch a few YouTube videos and have the right tools. It's funny to see the progression of "I have no idea what I'm doing" → "oh, I think I'm doing it" → "shit, I messed up" → "omg I did it!".

Am I a real dad now?

2025

Overall, this year was great and I'm looking forward to 2025. I can't wait to see what our little family ends up doing next year. I'm looking forward to work and seeing how our Design System grows. I'm hoping to pick up a hobby (hopefully back to guitar) and gaming some more.

I'm hoping to spend more time with friends and family. Over the past four years, I learned a lot about prioritizing time with folks you care about as they won't be here for forever. It's also good to get face time with people, despite me becoming a bit reclusive the past few years.

Onward to 2025 🫡

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