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2018 was a very different year for me. It was the first year in 13 years (kindergarten to grade 12) where I wasn't going to school in-person. This was my first year doing college related stuff, and I did it online, which was for the better as I get to work at my own pace (usually faster than how classes are taught), and things are more accessible. I gave web development a try and ended up liking it a lot. I had no idea if I wanted to focus more on front or back end so I tried both and ending up liking front-end more. Front-end web design is probably where my career is headed. I got super good grades and impressed my professors with my work with HTML/CSS/JavaScript. I'm pretty confident in it, and I hope I don't end up not liking it (which I accept is a thing that could happen that I can't deny) because idk what else I could do.
Next year I am pursuing a professional front-end web design certificate from Microsoft, which I'm super excited about and is hella credible.


This year my personality and attitude improved a lot as well. Part of this is due to surrounding myself with good friends in the speedrunning community. Another part of this I think is just growing up and maturing. I feel like I am now able to be way more positive than before. I used to not really believe in positivity, and I think part of this was because I was in high school which is like the worst part of your life so it is very hard to be.
Additionally, I hold grudges and hate a lot less than before. It's just not worth it, life is too short to be angry all the time. Speaking of life being too short, I am now letting myself "live" more. This means less obsessing over getting perfect grades like I did in high school, less burning myself out with school, etc.
My war with anxiety will never end, but I think I am winning many more battles now, so that's awesome.


~*SPEEDRUNNING*~
This was definitely my best year in speedrunning in every aspect, from performance to mentality and more.
My biggest highlight is probably running Crash 1 100% at my first in-person marathon and giving the game a really good showing. I also got a 1:06 with the run, which was the best showing of the category by three minutes at the time. While NoReset isn't the most popular, I'm still glad I gave my favourite category an excellent showing and didn't choke my dick off lol, considering it was my first time doing a run outside the comfort of my bedroom.
Speaking of Crash 1 100%, I improved more and more at the category this year and ended up with a 1:04 PB, which I'm happy about. I'd like to improve it at some point next year, but I'm burnt out atm and a 1:04 PB + 1:06 marathon showing is a good thing to leave the game with for now. I also got the world record for about a month or so, which was neat, but I'm more happy about having a good time right now.
I'm also super happy that the crash 1 speedrunning intro video received such good feedback. I didn't care about the views or likes, it's not monetized, I just want to help any new runners or even current runners that don't know much. I don't have much video editing experience I had to learn how to use Camtasia to make it, but it was worth it.

I also improved a lot at crash 3 this year which was cool. I re-learned all of 105% and brought my time down by like 6 minutes. Sadly technical issues showed up so I was unable to play as much as I wanted but I still did really well. A lot of this improvement also came from mentality. Next year I'd like a 44 in No IG and at least a 2:05 in 105%. I think I could 2:03 in 105% at this time if I decided to implement Tomb Time, but I see it as wiser to improve at the rest of the game first.

This year I got to try out a few new speedgames, including LSW TCS, SMW, Crash 2, and SHAR.
LSW TCS ended up having too much RNG and too many softlock spots for my liking, which was a shame because it was a really cool speedrun for the most part.
SMW was really fun. I only did 11 exit because crash 1 was calling for me again as usual, but next year I hope to get a SNES and do some more fun categories! Crash 2 probably would have been more fun if I wasn't stuck with emulator, but I also just find it more boring than crash 1 and 3, always have.
SHAR is one of my favourite games of all time but the RNG was pissing me off. Might just be a once in a while thing.


But yeah next year I hope to get NES/SNES stuff to both revisit games I've tried and learn new ones. Super excited.

Next year will hopefully start off with a bang with AGDQ 19. Hype to meet you all, seriously.
Here's to minimal dropped inputs, less anxiety, and good luck in 2019. Those who made my year this year know who you are. Love y'all.

- Tebt