Alright, I suppose it's that time of year. Here is my recap for 2025.
TL;DR:
I was promoted from IAM Analyst to Cloud Admin, then hired as a Cloud Engineer. I acquired 5 new Microsoft certifications. I learned Javascript and React, eventually learning Typescript, React Native, and Next.JS.
The Professional Recap
Let me start off with the biggest change. Earlier this year, I was officially promoted from IAM Analyst to Cloud Admin at MSI. A few months later, I was hired as a contract Cloud Engineer at Middleby. After working as a contractor for 4 months, I am happy to share that I was officially hired as a full-time Cloud Engineer at Middleby!
Outside of changes in my roles, I also did my best to keep busy with career development.
Here are the certifications I acquired this year:
- AZ-305: Azure Architect Expert
- AZ-500: Azure Security Engineer
- AZ-104: Azure Administrator
- AI-900: AI Fundamentals
- GH-300: GitHub Copilot
I was also busy expanding my programming beyond Python, learning the following:
- Javascript / Typescript
- React / React Native
- Next.JS
- LangChain
And finally, I had the opportunity to speak at the Dallas Software Developer's Night of Cloud!
Wow! Looking back, I feel like 2025 was the year I grew the most technically and professionally, though I believe that is only because of the foundations and past experience I built up. In addition to that, I would also note always learning—and learning publicly—opened so many more doors than not.
Looking Ahead
As for next year: My plan is to start off by delving deeper into Docker and Kubernetes, then passing the AZ-400 (DevOps Engineer certification). After that, I want to pass the AI-102 (Azure AI Engineer) and take a few Hugging Face courses to go deeper into AI & LLMs.
The Personal Side
Stepping aside from the work/career side of things, here is a brief personal summary of this year.
First, for those that do not know, my wife and I found out early this year we were expecting our first child! Sadly, we suffered a miscarriage in March. This was by far one of the most challenging seasons of my life, both as a husband and a father. I am so grateful to my family for comforting and supporting my wife and me during this time, and to God, who comforted me despite my grief and anger in this season.
I would also be remiss in not mentioning the horrible assassination of Charlie Kirk. His murder shook so many, including myself, to our very core. I was inspired by Charlie’s life to not only be more vocal in my faith but also to become more learned in all aspects of life. Since his passing, I have completed two books and am working on a third. Admittedly, this is not my fastest reading pace, but compared to this past year, it feels good to get back into reading and listening (I prefer audiobooks when able). Charlie lived his life well, and I strive to do the same.
In my pursuit of living my life well, I started getting more involved volunteering at my wife’s and I new church. You can find me either working in the back doing audio engineering for worship, or on a laptop working on the church’s new website (getting to put those new Javascript and Next.js skills to work)!
Oh, and one more personal note: we adopted a dog at the beginning of the year! (Fun fact: we adopted her from the same animal rescue who happened to be my first web dev client back in 2023).
Conclusion
To recap, as with most years, 2025 had a plethora of mountains, and also some low valleys. Through it all, though, God was and is sovereign. He opened doors I could only dream of! And while I will never understand all of His plans, He is good and comforted me when I needed Him.
With all that being said, here is to an amazing 2026!