Getting Settled Isn't Boring After All - 2021 Year in Review

In many ways 2021 was a year of getting settled. 2020 was a year full of changes for me–a new job, a new city, and of course COVID. 2021 was a year of getting more comfortable with these changes, and it seems all have persisted. Not only did I not move jobs or cities, COVID continues to have a firm grasp on my daily life. But that didn’t stop 2021 from being a year full of great surprises.

Before I dive into the specifics, I’d like to revisit the resolutions I had for this year from my previous year in review post. I accomplished every one! In summary, I wanted to do the following:

I started the year off strong, ten days in accomplishing a birthday. From there, a mere 3 months later, I completed my first year at Google and got my first COVID vaccine – both on the same day! I also, after working remotely for over a year, finally set foot in a Google office and experienced the great food Google has to offer. I also visited Chicago (not once, not twice, but thrice!), found a favorite restaurant in the Bay, and embraced California by genuinely enjoying kale. I also visited countless friends in countless cities after a lonelier 2020. All in all, a resounding success on the resolution front!

COVID

COVID continues to be a wildcard. I’m grateful to have been vaccinated earlier this year after the uncertainty of having a viable vaccine at all. But I didn’t expect to have to get a 3rd dose, which I was fortunate to receive at the end of the year. The vaccines, thankfully, have remained quite effective as COVID has evolved. But COVID’s mutations are prolonging the pandemic even longer than I had imagined. After lab studies confirmed spectacular efficacy of the initial mRNA vaccines, many experts predicted a drawdown of the pandemic. One in which cases would recede and only flare up in isolated pockets of unvaccinated communities. Rather, COVID continues to churn out variants that are more infectious than the last and has kept caseloads high all across the country (in fact, at lofty new records as of writing this).

Here’s hoping that this year the vaccines remain effective against whatever changes COVID throws at us. And here’s hoping that, after therapies have remained elusive this year, some new therapies help keep hospitalizations low even if cases stay high. After two years of this, we’re all learning how to live with the virus. And I imagine this year will be the same. As I’m writing this, we’re in the middle of the Omicron surge. Fingers crossed that this doesn’t overwhelm the healthcare system, but seeing that cases are more manageable, here’s hoping this is the first step in the transition from deadly pandemic to controllable endemic.

California

As you may or may not remember from last year’s year in review, my move to California was somewhat forced. Hard to believe, but back then many believed the pandemic would be over in 3-6 months, and relocation flexibility wasn’t really a thing yet. I left for California with an open mind, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a little bitter. Since I was coming from one of the biggest urban metropolises in the country, I had trouble seeing the appeal of what is–let’s be honest–an expensive suburb. But this year saw that understanding turn around, in large part due to meeting my new girlfriend Lauren.

Lauren and I went on our first date at the end of January. We met in downtown Mountain View and paced up and down Castro Street as we began getting to know each other. What was around us exemplified my uneasiness with my move. It was cold, dark, and an increase in COVID cases without a vaccine meant that the normally buzzing Castro Street was dead. Both indoor and outdoor dining was not allowed, so the only other people on the street were the occasional pickup order.

Against the dark backdrop of Castro Street that night, Lauren exemplified something far more positive and hopeful. What struck me most about Lauren, besides how all around cool she was, was her fondness and enthusiasm for the Bay Area. If anyone was going to change my mind, it was her. And–spoiler alert–she did! On our next date we walked up and down downtown Palo Alto (one of the nicer downtowns in South Bay) with bubble tea. Soon after, on another date, we did the Stanford Dish hike taking in breathtaking views of the valley, and later that same night we walked around Stanford’s campus for hours, finding out we shared the niche interest in exploring college campuses. From there she showed me everywhere from Berkeley to Monterey and all the good food in between.

With vaccines in our arms, we started exploring even further making 2021 a year of travel. We traveled to Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, and Hawaii. And without Lauren I went to Cape Cod, Boston, Columbus, and Indianapolis.

2021 certainly made up for the little to no vacation travel of 2020.

Work

This year saw my first Googleversary, replete with celebration! Lauren threw together an amazing party that even my sister was able to join (she was visiting the Bay to look at law schools and decided to go to NYU over Berkeley, oh well…). Not only was there delicious food, Lauren made spectacular cupcakes with all of my orgs logos–Google, Shopping, and Ads. The party surpassed even the highest expectations I could possibly have, and I would have never expected something so amazing for my Googleversary a year before.

Outside of the celebration, work continues to be solid. The offices finally opened again, although attendance is not mandatory yet (hard to predict if RTO is in the pipeline for 2022). I’ve finally been able to meet my manager and teammates in person and munch on the delicious Google food. The office, especially for my team, remains quite sparse. We’re moving buildings in 2022, and I figure many are waiting for that to return in a more consistent capacity. But as we make our way through the current case spike, I’m hoping the office will become naturally more bustling.

After over a year on my team, I’ve definitely started getting the hang of things more. I’m not as intimidated by evaluating experiment metrics. And more importantly, I’m more comfortable digging in and examining what’s going on when the metrics don’t move as we expect. As I mentioned in last year’s post, Google’s tools are completely proprietary and unique. But after over a year of exposure, I feel I’m definitely able to move faster. This year also saw me loaned to a sister team for half of my time, and I’ve absolutely loved the work there. It’s been great to start on a new team with Google’s tool knowledge already in hand. I’ve enjoyed the work on that team immensely, and will be sad to ramp off of it early next year. But excited for what exciting new projects Shopping Ads has in store.

All in all at work, I love the feeling of being able to contribute more substantially with my solid knowledge base, and am excited to learn even more next year. I also love how easy it is to focus at the office now that it’s open. In college, I almost exclusively worked out of the library since I didn’t like working in my apartment. And I love the free food and lattes too :)

Hobbies

The history of my flying career is pretty fragmented. Even though I received my pilot license before going to college, I only flew one summer of college (the first, the rest I had to be other places for internships). Years later, I got current in Chicago, which was no small feat since I didn’t have a car to get to the airport. Then COVID happened and I decided it best not to fly, putting another gap in my timeline. But this year, I’m proud to say, I finally am current again in the Bay.

I fly out of Palo Alto's tiny airport. It has all sorts of interesting facts about it. Like the fact that it’s the busiest single runway airport in CA and has the shortest runway of any towered airport in the country. Flying in the Bay is more challenging than anywhere else I’ve ever flown. Palo Alto is situated between San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland airports. The airspace shapes are completely irregular, and it’s pretty difficult to spot the runway subtly nestled along The Bay. But as my flight instructor told me, if you can fly at Palo Alto, you can fly anywhere. And I believe her!

Despite the crazy airspace, I can’t think of a more beautiful place to fly. There’s gorgeous mountains flanking the valley, and flying over San Francisco truly highlights the beauty that makes the Bay Area so special. I can’t wait to fly more next year, especially for some further trips to Monterey and Napa. It’s also a big plus that almost every day it’s sunny and clear (at least at the southern part of the peninsula–sorry San Francisco!).

My viola is also still getting plenty of use. Lauren is a skilled pianist, and we’ve recorded one sonata so far. I’ve also recorded the viola part for multiple virtual Google Symphony pieces. Despite some being recorded just a couple months into the year, the video editors are still hard at work stitching it all together. I can’t exaggerate how excited I am to watch it. But alas, I must be patient.

Despite maintaining my existing hobbies, I’ve also been venturing into new activities. Lauren is an accomplished biker and helped me pick out and buy my first road bike. Since getting my new bike, we’ve biked all across the Bay including in Carmel, Oakland, East Bay, and San Francisco. I’ve been having a lot of fun biking with her all over, and I intend to keep it up next year.

Resolutions and Conclusions

One thing I called out in last year’s post is that all of the change going on in my life during the pandemic was actually a good thing. Despite the pandemic being the worst time to make big life adjustments, it prevented the year from feeling stagnant as we all put things on hold and cautiously tried to navigate our new lives. This year didn’t have the sweeping changes of 2020, but it hardly felt stagnant. And I’m incredibly grateful for that. This year saw amazing adventures, surprises, thrills, and love. It saw jam packed weekends and even many eventful weeknights. It saw some of the most travel of any year on record for me. And it has had some of the most fulfilling and life affirming moments I could ask for. When Google announced work from home for an entire year two days after I moved out of Chicago, I asked if they would turn the moving trucks around. Google said no. Although it stung in the moment, I will forever be grateful for their decision. Because without it, this post detailing my first full calendar year in the Bay would have never been written. And what a pity that would be.