It took me a few tries to film it. I saw videos of everyone ending the year with a cake and putting a candle or mini flag in for every achievement celebrated in 2025. I wanted to do the same. I am a blogger who is comfortable writing, but I struggle when it comes to vlogs or videos, however I think it is something I can try to work on. This is a more detailed list of what I mention in mine:

1. In 2025, I asked for a raise, and I managed to negotiate it from my current job while renewing a contract. Believe it or not, but I have never had the chance to have a performance review meeting, and I have never asked for a raise at any job before. This makes me so proud of myself, and I think this was my biggest achievement of 2025 although it came in the latter half of the year when I got some bad news soon after. I am blessed however that I got closer to another lawyer friend who really encouraged me to ask for more. I really felt like yes, I deserve more and I am worth more with encouragement from friends and others. Thank you especially to my friend, Isabela who really encouraged me when I needed it. I plan on writing another blog post soon on this and my tips to preparing for a compensation discussion with your boss.
2. I supervised a few paralegal and law clerk students in their placement but this time I also got to watch a few of them get their diplomas on the Humber online stream of the ceremony. This is more of an achievement for my students as I’m very proud of them, but I am glad that I got to guide them in their placements and got to pass on some of my own practice wisdom to them for their practice going forward.
3. This year I got to meet up with someone I met in a law Facebook group some time ago but had never truly met in-person but now she is my friend. I got to commission her administrative call to the bar oath in Ontario as she moved from Alberta.
4. In 2025, I got to attend the Young Women in Law Gala for the first time. I have been meaning to attend one for a few years but never got to. After getting employed again and not having an upcoming court date or a deadline on the week of, I finally got to attend one. It was great to hear from 3 inspiring women in the legal industry, Kathryn Bird- Managing partner at Ogletree Deakins, Shara Roy – Chief Legal Counsel at EY Canada, and the Honourable Justice Julia Shin Doi – first Korean Canadian woman on the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario at this year’s event. I also attended the Ontario Bar Association’s Young Lawyer’s Gala this year as well. It was nice to network at both special events.
5. For most of 2025, I managed to keep up with attending multiple networking events and I got to have a lot of interesting coffee dates including meet ups with law students and students interested in the law, and other amazing professionals I may work with in the future.
6. In 2025, I dealt with many ups and downs generally and somehow I survived. I have had a crazy past few years and I think just having survived, let alone attempt to make a come back has been an accomplishment.
7. In 2025, I crashed my car and got a cancer diagnosis, but I didn’t let it crush me completely. I am still here and I continue to be here blogging.

I have had the same car since 2009 although it was new at the time, and so I had the car for almost 17 years. It’s kind of a shock still that I don’t have my car anymore since I was attached to it for so long.

Also yes, I found out I got cancer in 2025. I had a biopsy that found malignant cells in a swollen lymph node in my neck. I then got an external biopsy to confirm my cancer, which means the doctor had to make an excision or cut into my neck. Then once they confirmed that it was Hodgkins Lymphoma, I was referred to preserving my fertility by freezing a set of eggs.

When I crashed my car, it was the week when I was due for my egg retrieval surgery which meant my ovaries had been artificially enlarged when I was driving on the freeway and saw a box in my lane. I was unable to slow down and safely go around. I ended up swerving across the freeway until I hit the guardrail and my car spun with parts flying in the air. Unfortunately, my car was a complete write-off and at that time I had to worry about getting myself to the fertility clinic and getting myself checked out after the accident. I was lucky I wasn’t injured.

I also started my chemotherapy treatment in November. Despite it all, I am doing my best to push through. I think that is itself an achievement and I hope that when I reflect on my 2026 achievements I can say I beat cancer among other things.

We should continue to remember our wins, regardless of how small, we can take a moment to be grateful for them, instead of continuing to focus on only the challenges and losses. What did you accomplish in 2025? Wishing everyone better or more wins in 2026!