2025: but God. a reflective piece :) as i sit down to write this article, there are a few hours left on this side of the world before it's 2026, even though my friends back in nigeria are already posting "happy new year" messages and probably watching fireworks. i am in the past and they are in the future. what a world! if i could describe 2025, two words would be enough: "but God." but for God, who helped me as i started the year by changing my entire life trajectory, i would probably have failed. i was on a path toward medical school and had gained quite significant experience in biomedicine. the plan was to go to college, get an undergrad degree in biochemistry, and go to med school after. i changed that entire trajectory and switched to computer science, choosing instead to pursue a technical career. but for God, who has helped me during this entire transition, i would have given up after realizing i was far behind most of my peers and needed to catch up. but for God, who has helped me fall in love with coding, i would have started to regret that decision. i can't wait to see what God does through me in 2026. but for God, who helped me navigate through college applications, i would have run mad after opening rejection letter upon rejection letter from colleges. each rejection letter seemed to read "sorry, you aren't good enough," and i felt truly heartbroken when some came. but god helped me through, and now that i am in college, i can just say "but God." i don't think i would change anything about where i attend now. this place is actually perfect, and i don't think i would change anything about the people i have met so far. someone i speak with regularly said, "feranmi, you have grown over these months," referring to a positive shift in my mindset. can't wait to see how the next years in college pan out with the people i started it with. like everyone else, i am pretty sure that the version of me that leaves college will be better than the one that came. but for God, who gave me the gift of men, 2025 would have been a terrible, terrible year. 2025 was a year where the gift of men and relationships became even more important. grateful to bro john for taking me under his wings and treating me like a brother. grateful to miss tolu and miss tireni and the entire build nigeria team for helping me achieve my dream of studying in the us. grateful to kc for being a big sister to me and helping me out in more ways than i can count. grateful to lisa for listening to my rants and enduring my tiring conversations about life (she def got fed up with me at one point, but what can we do? really grateful). grateful to moyin for the long calls where i pretend to be knowledgeable and she pretends to be a student learning from a wise sensei. grateful to ibk for being a good listener to my thoughts on whether manchester united are going anywhere under our terrible coach. grateful to cj for trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to make me a more social person, and also for giving me his grape juice. grateful to somkene for patiently answering my tiring questions (he genuinely needs a medal for this). grateful to chidi for encouraging me when i was at my lowest. grateful to ogo for always letting me diss barcelona and show him my "cool" mirror pictures. grateful to grace for always having an open ear to my dumb ideas and calling them "inspirational" even when we both know i am delusional. grateful to batman for being there for conversations about whether sam altman is a crook or edtech is sustainable. grateful to zaedi for always liking my whatsapp posts and telling me i am doing great things (best flatterer i know). grateful to michael and patrick for singlehandedly making me cracked in tech and giving me a space to cry about internship rejections. grateful to bro kenny for mentoring me spiritually. if i didn't mention your name, i am still grateful for you, i just have a really bad memory and typing isn't that easy, please (inserts crying emoji). but for God, who gave me a supportive family, i would have been forced to give up on some of my dreams. my parents allowed me to stay at home and not pursue a nigerian education as i chased something that wasn't logically realistic. grateful for my dad, who always encouraged me to never give up (i think dads are naturally good at this job tbh). grateful for my mom, who tried to understand my dreams and supported me with prayers. grateful for my elder sister, who was a sure pillow of comfort when all went bad. i don't say it much, but i want to be like her when i grow up (not short like her though, please). grateful for my younger sister, who looked up to me. there's a whole new way to live when you realize someone sees you as a role model. still an annoying person, no doubt, but hey, when you think of her role model, you start to see why (iykyk). i was definitely not the best friend, the best child, or the best mentee. i wasn't the best at anything, and i will be the first to admit it. i was, on most occasions, very self-centered and should have spent less time talking about myself and more time listening to others. i could have messaged people better, and i could have shown up more. for that, i am truly sorry, and i promise to do a better job next year. i promise to show up more for others and help people more. to be a better friend, a better child, a better sibling, and a better human being (autofill said "a better hu" and suggested "husband." as if). 2025 is over. 2026 is next. "brothers and sisters, i do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. but one thing i do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, i press on toward the goal to win the prize for which god has called me heavenward in christ jesus." philippians 3:13-14 (niv) as we move into 2026, let's forget what is behind and press on toward better things. may 2026 be the year we fulfill our dreams. unconventional thinker,

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