LinkedIn didn’t give me a 2025 recap, so I made my own.
2025 was a year of both ups and downs—one that shaped me technically, professionally, and personally.
I completed my journey into full-stack development, explored machine learning, deep learning, AI and got my first real taste of research. It wasn’t perfect, but it was meaningful.
The year started during my 2nd semester when I landed my first freelancing project through a referral. Unfortunately, the project was dropped midway and I wasn’t paid. Still, it taught me something invaluable , MongoDB and production-level development practices. A small win hidden inside a setback.
March was tough. I faced rejection from Next Tech Lab after an interview I wasn’t fully prepared for. It hurt—because I really wanted it—but in hindsight, my skills simply weren’t ready yet. That rejection became a wake-up call.
April brought my first paid freelancing client. ₹500 may not sound like much, but it was money earned through pure effort—and that mattered. (Also, that was the month I started watching One Piece… arguably the best decision of 2025 😄)
May, that was a tough one. Not because of Chennai’s peak summer, but because of semester exams. The second semester almost broke me. I was convinced I’d fail Semiconductors or EEE — I had spent the entire semester deeply immersed in coding, projects, and learning beyond the syllabus.
Somehow, I survived the exam week.
Summer Break 2025, genuinely fruitful.
I landed my first internship and yes, that deserved a Yayyy! 🎉
It was a startup incubated at IIT Madras, built around a genuinely solid idea and an even better team. Working alongside them was an eye-opening experience.
My mentor, Ayush Dwivedi, pushed me to learn things I might’ve otherwise skipped, lessons that turned out to be far more valuable than I expected. During the internship, I worked primarily with TypeScript, and I can confidently say now: it’s an amazing language to build with.
The entire break flew by between internship work and watching One Piece (balanced, right?).
Oh ,almost forgot HackerRank.
One random evening, my friend Abhiraj texted me about starting a technical club in college and offered me a Technical Lead role. Of course, there was an interview and a small coding round ,classic corporate energy, even in college.
The summer break ended on a high note:
Technical Lead, HackerRank Campus Crew , SRMIST.
July, the start of Semester 3.
With the new semester came my first proper meeting with the other leads of HackerRank Campus Crew. I was shy at the beginning, but that didn’t last long. Every one of them turned out to be genuinely amazing people,colleagues who soon became close friends.
Enough about HRCC and friendships, Semester 3 had more in store.
One day, my faculty advisor unexpectedly called me to her cabin and asked if I’d be interested in working as an AI Intern at one of the college research organizations. My answer was immediate: yes.
That’s how I began working at Boltzmann Labs as an AI Intern, alongside my friend Amrita.
Our work involved sequencing DNA and RNA modules using machine learning. It was deeply interdisciplinary — a collaboration between AI and biotechnology — and it taught me the fundamentals of machine learning in a way that theory never could. Those foundations turned out to be incredibly valuable later on.
Alongside this, I also worked as an SWE Intern at BlueStocks Fintech Pvt. Ltd. My role involved helping develop software solutions for their internal systems. It was a short interview that led to a meaningful learning experience ,one that sharpened my problem-solving and practical engineering mindset.
Then came the HackerRank Campus Crew club launch.
The night before the event, our president Yashi casually informed me that I’d be delivering a short speech as the Technical Lead. I was nervous beyond words. But once the event, things just… flowed.
And just like that , the club was officially launched. 🎉
Looking back, it wasn’t just about speaking on stage or launching a club ,it was about stepping into responsibility, despite the nerves, and growing into it.
One of the biggest highlights of 2025 , Smart India Hackathon.
Our team secured a Top 50 position at SIH, standing out among hundreds of registered teams . I won’t dive deep into the details, that story has a post of its own ,but the experience was unforgettable.
Late-night meetings, endless debugging, rapid iterations, and high-pressure presentation rounds — the kind of intensity that pushes you beyond your limits. Exhausting, chaotic, and absolutely worth it.
November, a reminder to just try.
With no real expectations, I cold-emailed 10 professors from the Indian Statistical Institute, 10 from IIT Kharagpur, and 10 from Jadavpur University, asking for a winter research internship.
To my surprise, three professors replied, and one of them offered me an internship.
Just like that, I became a Research Intern at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
The internship is still ongoing, so I can’t disclose the research topic yet. But what I can say is this: the experience has been absolutely worth it. The learning curve, the depth of work, and the exposure to serious research have made this one of the most meaningful phases of my journey so far.
Sometimes, all it takes is sending that one email or thirty.
And that was 2025.
A year of highs and lows, wins and lessons, with many moments quietly happening in the background that shaped me just as much. Not everything needs to be documented to matter.
Now, it’s time to step into 2026 with a fresh mind and renewed energy.
I hope this year is kinder, more focused, and more fulfilling. I hope I can achieve the things I couldn’t in 2025 , and execute the plans I once only imagined.
Here’s to learning more, building better, and moving forward, one step at a time. 🚀
Hello, 2026.