This past year has been crazy. I'm typing this intro in the last 15 minutes of 2025, but this won't be finished until 2026 is already here.

What happened in my life in 2025?

Just a bullet-point summary of 2025, looking back. This is in rough order from January to December, and is fairly long.

• Came up with my new name, Nova!
• Restored an old desktop to become my main PC.
• Learned how to do photography, and gained my love for it.
• Improved my system administration skills.
• Started going to therapy!
• Improved my writing skills, and put more focus into writing.
• Launched multiple fairly successful Minecraft servers.
• Joined Hack Club, an online community for teenage programmers!
• Got my first passport.
• Finished 9th grade, with quite good grades!
• Turned 15 years old! :D
• Took my first flight ever! (Home to SEA)
• Boarded the Carnival Spirit for a 7-day cruise to Alaska!
• Went to my first Pride parade, with my best friend!
• Completed over 100 hours of programming on personal projects (from May to August)!
• Flew to Boston, Massachusetts for Shipwrecked (which I talked about in a previous post)!
• Met some of my closest online friends in real life.
• Flew back home, cementing my love for aviation.
• Started 10th grade!
• Started a Hack Club at my high school!
• Wore a skirt outside for the first time :3
• Became more aware of and open about my gender identity! <3
• Took on more responsibilities at Hack Club, like reviewing for their Clubs Dashboard.
• Created this website!

Interesting Things

I've done some very fun and/or interesting things during this last year. One of them is programming for a rough total of 220.5 hours between May 8th (day I joined Hack Club) and the end of the year. Another is that I traveled over 4,000 miles this year, and was in the water of both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. I was also technically in Canada during the cruise, though I was unable to enter Canada (my mom didn't have her passport, and she wouldn't let me disembark on my own).

People

Many people made this year what it was for me. I can't name everyone here, but here's some people who have allowed me to name them publicly.

Hack Club

• Astra, a good friend of mine. Going around Boston with you was incredibly fun, and you've made my life better in 2025. The Pride Flag Salute at Shipwrecked was amazing, and Hack Club Parliament has been so fun to be a part of.
• Valerie, such a fun and cool girl! You're so amazing to talk to, so talented, and one of my closest friends. Your music has helped me through some pretty hard days. Also, Voidborne was so cool, and I'm excited to see Beat Jumper finished! <3
• Addy, another person who has made my life better this last year. The things you've done this past year have been so fun! Meeting you at Shipwrecked was amazing for me, and I am happy I got to meet you IRL (and got cat ears from you!) Thanks for being active in my personal channel :3
• Alex (p variant), an amazing person to know. Thanks for trusting me as a Minecraft admin, and thanks for being active in my channel as well! Meeting you in the Boston airport was so much fun! :D
• Rowan, everyone’s favorite Monero fox! You’ve been great to know, and the things you do amaze me all the time. Thanks for being generally amazing! :3
• Others (unnamed), there are so many Hack Clubbers that have made an impact on this year that I can't mention all of you! Especially if you're in #nova-personal on the Slack, you're all amazing and have made such a difference in my life in 2025.

IRL

• Exotic Buttersfly (online name), my best friend. Thanks for helping me to feel more comfortable and accepted with my gender identity. You've also helped me make some amazing things, such as NYNS. Thanks so much for everything! Oh, and ∷ᒷꖎᒷᔑᓭᒷ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ʖᒷᒷᓭ :3
• Others (unnamed), you know the fun things you've done that have made my year amazing. You may not end up reading this, but you know who you are if you do.

Others

I have some other assorted online friends and people I have met IRL who I am not directly naming in this post. If you're in this section, you know the amazing things you've done for my life in this past year, Thanks so much to all of you, whether I only knew you briefly or if we still talk.

You!

Whoever is reading this blog post, you've made time for what I have to say, and that means more to me than I could ever express in words. Thanks so much for being here :D

What are my plans for 2026?

Here's some goals I have (you could call these resolutions if you feel like it). I will likely edit this post throughout the year to check these off, unless I forget.

• Get an iPad Air (256GB) from Hack Club Flavortown :3
  • Get an Apple Pencil Pro from the event as well!
• Launch NYNS Season 4.
• Get more involved in Hack Club.
  • Note: Hopefully I get a summer internship, but I want to become more involved no matter what.
  • Run my first YSWS (You Ship, We Ship).
• Learn at least one new programming language!
  • Note: I want to learn Godot's GDScript the most at the moment, but this may change.
• Make more complex coding projects that can do more things.
• Get prescribed (and begin taking) medication for my ADHD.
• Start HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) :3
• (Potentially) Start a more personal YouTube channel.

I may end up adding more to this list, I don't really know yet!

Closing

Welcome to 2026, everyone! Let's make this year amazing :3
If you're reading this and are in Hack Club, say hi in my personal channel (#nova-personal)!
To everyone here, thanks for reading this <3

Also, as always: If I named you and you don't want to be named, email me at nova@novatea.dev and I will remove your name from the post. Send any comments to the same email, if you have anything else that you want to share about this post!