Expectation vs. Reality

Let’s address the elephant in the room. It’s been over a year since my last blog post, and frankly, I’d forgotten this repository even existed. What began as an exciting pet project quickly became like that toy you rediscover under the bed a year later, realising only then that it had gone missing.

I have no one to blame but myself for this lapse, and it’s worth reflecting on how my expectations for this project differed so sharply from reality. Hopefully, there are lessons to be learned going forward.

Expectations

When I started this repository, my goals were straightforward. I envisioned it as a modern alternative to the traditional CV, a portfolio that would introduce me and my ideas to potential employers. Standard CVs—those endless Word or PDF documents—are prone to versioning chaos with every minor update. They also tend to paint a very one-dimensional picture, focusing solely on work and educational achievements.

I imagined this project as a refreshing take on the CV, offering employers a more personal, engaging view of me. I thought that perhaps this could stand out from the norm and that some companies might appreciate the uniqueness of the approach.

To achieve this, alongside a conventional CV, I planned to create an About page and a series of blog posts on topics that were top-of-mind each week or month. In terms of design, I had a vague but optimistic vision—something visually appealing but simple. My previous experience with front-end web development suggested that some basic CSS styling and a warm colour palette could provide a professional yet personal feel. Markdown and Jekyll seemed the perfect combo—easy integration with GitHub Pages, allowing new posts with minimal effort.

Reality

Some of those ambitions did materialise. I managed to set up and deploy the pages, and the links all worked without much fuss. Navigation between pages is smooth, and when I needed to access my CV for job applications, it was readily available—no searching through endless versions to find the most up-to-date copy.

The catch is, the only tasks that got completed were the ones I could tackle in one sitting. Anything requiring continuous refinement or attention? Those were left by the wayside.

The biggest disappointment has been the styling. Right now, it looks… well, let’s just say it’s far from where I imagined. It’s a problem that can definitely be fixed, but it requires more time and energy than I initially budgeted for. As a result, the site sits in a half-baked state that doesn’t motivate me to keep working on it.

Another lesson learned: expecting to churn out blog posts regularly while juggling a PhD and other priorities was overly ambitious. Without making this project a priority or setting up reminders, posting a new blog each week turned out to be wishful thinking.

Moving Forward

Maybe it’s okay that I lost momentum with this project. After all, I’ve come back to it, and it still serves its intended purpose. But moving forward, the first order of business is fixing the design. I need to get the page into a state that I’m comfortable sharing with others—especially with potential employers. Once that’s done, I can turn my attention to further improvements.