Looking back what happened in 2025 I can say that it wasn’t easy but I pulled through and I’m seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

What happened in 2025?

At the beginning of 2025, I was unemployed and searching for a job. I was still recovering from a trip to the hospital and had many medical appointments to get everything sorted out. I’m good now, but health issues and related fields were a constant companion.

Things got better in the spring. I interviewed with a company and after a couple of rounds signed the contract. But right before starting at my new job in June, I caught Corona again. I had to delay my start for a couple of days and I was already nervous about my impression at the new company. My manager was helping und very understanding. He told me not to worry about it and gave me the space to recover.

On July 17th, SoCraTes started. This is one of my favorite (un)conferences and I held my very first session. I was a little bit nervous to talk in front of ~200 people but I managed with the encouragement of Lisi and Janina. In my session I’ve opened up to the community and answered questions on How to get a job in 2025. I was so fixated on the people and talking with them that I forgot to take notes, but Oliver jumped in and took notes for me.

I’ve visited FrOSCon in August, because it’s around the corner and a conference with many fond memories.

Due to tremendous luck with my new employer, I had the chance to attend my very first Open Security Conference. Think SoCraTes (with overlapping attendees) but more intimate with ~50 people and focused on IT Security. The atmosphere was amazing and I met interesting new people. Needles to say that I also learned a lot in the four days of the conference.

December was rough for me. Multiple health issues needed my attention. I’m thankful for the public health system in Germany, but it can be very draining to get the medical help you need to get better.

Traveling in 2025

In my professional past, I didn’t had to travel much. With the beginning of the Pandemic, I almost exclusively worked in a remote office setup. This changed with my new employer in 2025. In the 31 weeks I’m working there, I was 32 nights away. That’s almost every 2.6 weeks for 3 nights. I’ve traveled 9404 km by train in 99 hours and was delayed by 339 minutes.

Jumping from zero to that was challenging and I’m experimenting to make train rides more enjoyable for me.

What are your plans for 2026?

Health: If 2025 was the year of health issues, 2026 is the year of healing. I’m prioritizing my health. Again, it’s not a critical condition but the amount of issues accumulated enough that I won’t longer ignore them.

Conferences: SoCraTes and Open Security Conference are already marked in my calendar. I’m crossing my fingers to win a ticket in the lottery. And crossing my fingers that Tisba wins a SoCraTes ticket this year.

Professional: I’m still developing software for Apple platforms with Swift but started to look more and more in other fields. IT Security peaked my interest in 2025 and it’s looking good that I can get involved with it at my job. That would be interesting.