2023 Wrapped: A final look back on 2023

 Hey hey lovely readers, thanks for joining me for another blog! It’s good to see you all! This will be the last blog post for 2023 – can you believe 2024 is already pretty much here? – I certainly can’t but either way lets get to the point of this blog! This blog is a wrap up post for 2023 – all the things I'm grateful for, things I didn’t expect to happen (I think we all know what is on that particular part of the list) but anyway think of this as a smolkoalaesports wrapped. Without the fancy graphics (though I'm still testing new designs – let me know what you think of this one!) and maybe a song suggestion or two as we head towards 2024. So without further ado, lets get into this!

 

2023: a year of things I never thought were even remotely possible:

 

1.     Apex LAN – all the way back in Feb

2.     MSI 2023

3.     Increasing my reach on twitter from MSI (sort of)

4.     The Convergence Event – still not over that one yet

5.     Worlds pass

6.     Leaving my esports job

7.     The support for this blog – allowing me to keep up with esports 

8.     A bonus mention – of a free jersey 

 

So there’s the list we are working off – can you tell I love a list on my blogs? But yeah, those are the points I'm going to be breaking down, and I’ll add some images too because who doesn’t love some nice visuals to tie into a blog post? Thanks again for joining me and let’s get into the list!

 

Apex LAN – Feb 2023 

 

My first ever LAN and press pass (which I keep as part of my scrapbook), this was so wild to me even though I'd had to take a very quick crash course in Apex from my friend. The same friend who got me into League – he is one heck of a gamer in case it wasn’t obvious haha. Either way, having had a quick summary and having done my own research – read: watched some apex pros stream and discuss the game – you can learn a lot from pros about a game – and I was off to Copperbox Arena for the first time.  

Apex 2023 was pretty cool - I'd never seen a stage like this before ahaha

 

If you’ve read my previous blog on this event, then you know I got lost on my way back but whatever. Truly did not think I would get to go to a LAN event so early into my career – even if it was just for experience rather than I game I worked in – but either way you get the point, I'm pretty sure I spent the whole day in some sort of trance trying to get used to everything but I'm so glad I got to experience it so young. There is a picture somewhere of me freaking out that a pro player sat down next to me in the reserved seating area for staff – press, players, and a few others that I don’t remember. If only someone had told me what would come next…

 

MSI 2023 – May 2023

 

Can we just say this one is completely and utterly wild? This was a never in a million years kind of dream, and then it was announced to be coming to London and well now we are in December and I'm still not over this. Yes it was all the way back in May, but it to me at least felt like a once in a life time opportunity that I may never have gotten and may never get again. But I can say whole heartedly I enjoyed every minute, I made the most of every second and I'm still in shock that I got this experience – so new into esports and so early on in my life too – because to me MSI was something only older more experienced people got to go to and yet I did get to and that is beyond wild in my mind. 

my jaw dropped when I saw this and to this day I am in awe of it

 

This didn’t seem even remotely possible at the start of 2023, meeting Fudge, Mikyx, Xun, Guma, being in the same corridor as Faker and so many other points (check out my MSI Memories week 1 blog to hear about the first part of this journey). To this day I'm not sure how I was lucky enough to get to experience MSI with a press pass in my home country but I am so so glad I did, I feel incredibly lucky knowing I had this experience, that I got to meet all the Riot staff – who are lovely, and that I got to meet all the other press and staff, as well as all the players too. For me MSI will now always hold a special place in my heart and will always be a fond memory – even if I don’t return to esports after this break, I can say I did what I set out to do, I achieved what I wanted to achieve and I had a lot of fun while doing it. 

 

Increasing my reach on Twitter from MSI (sort of)

 

Well I didn’t hit 200 followers off the back of MSI but I got something pretty cool instead, I hit over 45k views on a post about an interview, and from some analytics I know that particular interview did well. Not least because I had a lot of fun within it too, I truly loved interviewing and meeting everyone and I think that shows in my previous work. I used to always think a good journalist would have thousands upon thousands of followers, which I obviously don’t – not that I'm a huge fan of Twitter now anyway, I wasn’t really to begin with either. 

 

But I’ve come to realise that your reach and your follower count don’t have to match up, and even though I don’t have thousands of followers, I'm glad that a lot of people got to see my interviews, learn more about their favourite players or players they hadn’t heard of before, and see a different side to both the players and my work. That in itself was more rewarding than having thousands of followers, and it allowed me to focus on making good content as opposed to lots of content to keep the algorithm happy. 

 

Song suggestion: break the rules MSI anthem 2023 

 

The Convergence Event – still not over that one yet (also May 2023)

 

Ah yes, the most random email to appear in my inbox this year and one that I was convinced was sent to the wrong person. I got invited to an exclusive LoL event in London during MSI 2023, I got lost en route as the venue and google maps were not aligning and I was getting lost – who is even surprised – but it was still incredible. I got to meet so many casters, streamers, content creators, fellow journalists (can I still call myself a journalist even if I no longer work as one currently at least?) and truthfully I just had a lot of fun. 

 

I also got a very cute t-shirt that is branded for the game that I have tucked away at home to wear on the bad days as a reason to smile. Convergence may have been my first (and possibly my last) invite only event, but I'm still glad I got to experience it, 2020 me would never have imagined I would get invited to attend, 2021 me would never have believed I would attend despite being incredibly anxious and having something of a panic attack on my way there, and 2022 me probably would haven’t believed you if you’d told her. But 2023 me now knows anything is possible, if you can dream it you can do it, and that there is a lot ot be said for believing in the reality of your dreams. 

 

Meeting the lovely Lauré at Convergence!!! 

I am still honoured that Riot thought it a good idea to invite me, I'm delighted that this was part of my MSI journey, and just like the whole of MSI 2023, it is something I will hold close to my heart for many years to come. To this day, I am so glad I met everyone I did at this event, to everyone for talking to me, for giving me their advice from experience, for encouraging me, for being willing to take photos with me, for opening their arms wide and giving me the best welcome I could expect (even if I didn’t know who some of the streamers were) and for being amazing that night too. It still feels surreal, I still pinch myself with how lucky I have been this year, but I'm so happy too, I got to experience it all in such a short time and that isn’t something that everyone gets to say.

 

Worlds 2023 Pass – October (?) and November 2023

 

The reason there is a question mark in the title is because I currently have the memory of a goldfish, and as I'm typing I have no access to wifi to check the exact dates. But either way, a Worlds pass!?! When I asked my editor about it, I was honestly scared I wouldn’t get one, and then I did! Obviously I wish I had gotten to be in Seoul, Korea to experience it first hand – but with Worlds coming to London next year I am optimistic I will get to see another Worlds on LAN in some capacity.

 

Either way, a Worlds 2023 pass for me felt like a shot at redemption for any interviews I had flunked before from MSI, as well as a chance to meet more people. There was an unfortunate incident with my alarm not sounding on a morning so missing a series of matches, which I still kick myself about to this day, but I'm still beyond honoured I got the opportunity to begin with. Worlds 2023 was great for me because although it was over zoom and some of those mornings wake ups were not fun, I still loved everything I got to experience. It was lovely meeting the players I had missed at MSI, it was nice to see some familiar Riot staff faces and also to see all the content around Worlds 2023. There are some things I regret with Worlds 2023, but I'm glad I took the chance and applied for a press pass, I'm glad I did it, and every opportunity I’ve had this year and I’m glad I’ve been able to learn so much from people who I have so much adoration and respect for. There’s a lot to be said for asking questions and learning from those who are where you want to be, and have been where you are. 

 

Song suggestion: Take Over – Worlds 2020 anthem 

 

Leaving my esports job

 

The elephant in the room that I refuse to allow to be one, if you’ve read my previous blog on leaving my esports job you will know that I was incredibly burnt out, my passion had been dwindling and honestly I had too much on my plate. Way too much on my plate as I was trying to keep going even though I was obviously struggling. As much as it was painful at the time, leaving my job has allowed me to really look after myself – I haven’t done stupidly late nights or early mornings in a very long time – a fact my body is very thankful for. I’ve had more time to look after my body by doing sport, and the sport I love which is ice skating (and by having the time for it has also meant I’ve improved dramatically in a very short time), I’ve had more freedom in my day and now I write when I feel like I can rather than forcing myself to write – which garners much better quality of content. As I think we can all agree with this blog.

 

And as I said to a lovely industry professional, I woke up for the first time and wasn’t stressed about the day before I'd even taken my meds or gotten up to brush my hair. It was a hard decision, it was a difficult moment in my year, it wasn’t something 2022 me thought I would do so ‘soon’ but it was the correct decision. Just because the decision is difficult doesn’t mean it is the wrong one, I'm a firm believer in everything happens for a reason, everyone you meet you meet for a reason, etc. and that better things are coming. Currently that better thing is my blog, building this up, having you all support me, and giving my body the time off it has been craving for months. And honestly, ‘soon’ is in the eye of the beholder, because maybe I had done what I had wanted to in esports journalism, and now I can move to a different area of esports and start over with some more realistic expectations for myself and an open mind for what comes next. 

 

Ok nearly there, two more points and then I’ll look to close out this blog.

 

The support for this blog – allowing me to keep up with esports

 

Now that I read that title back it makes very little sense in my mind, I think the point I'm trying to make is that this blog keeps me in esports, it keeps my content swirling, it keeps my mind watching out for the new things and I love that. I love that I'm not totally out of esports while I'm on this break because instead I have a blog that allows me to stay involved, but on my terms so that I don’t work myself into the ground again like I did just a few months ago. And hopefully when I do make a return to esports on a more full basis, this blog will allow me to get some press passes, make more friends, attend more events, etc. – if that’s what I want to do by then. 

 

Thank you all for your support of me and this blog, I know I have been one hell of a work in progress these last few months so I cannot say enough how much I appreciate the support and time, and love that you have all given in me in abundance. 

 

A bonus mention – of a free jersey

 

Something I definitely never thought would happen this year was that I would be offered a team jersey for some content I covered – am I going to tell you which team? In time yes, because I have no photos of me in the actual jersey as I’ve not been at home much, but for a team to offer me a jersey? Heck yeah! One more jersey to add to the pile (of jerseys I don’t have haha), still wild that I would be offered, still wild that companies would offer it to little old me with my laptop, caffeine and a plushie bunny rabbit but nonetheless I am grateful.

 

And more than anything for this blog, I wanted to show my gratitude, for all the things that seemed impossible at the start of this year, both the good and the bad. This year has been one huge adventured, one big learning curve and I am so honoured and grateful to have been able to experience all of it. Thank you to you for joining my blog readership, whether you’ve been here since day one, you recently joined or you are my mum who is relentless in reading my blog at every opportunity she gets even though we call every day and she knows every detail of my life. Thank you for being here, thank you for your support, your views and reads and for being you. Whether your 2023 was amazing, awful, or somewhere in between, I hope 2024 is everything you hope it to be, keep your head up, you are strong, you are brave, you are loved, you are needed here.

 

Hug and koala kisses,

Happy holidays and wishing you all a wonderful new year, see you in 2024!

 

Nia logging out for the last time in 2023