ryelle codes

aka Kelly Choyce-Dwan

Last post of 2025

This year feels a bit like everything changed and nothing changed.

I started the year with a plan for work (I mentioned that last year), only to return after the holiday barred from that work & without any leadership. Trying to make the best of a bad situation, I joined a project and started working with a different team — and was even invited to their meetup in New Orleans with 2 weeks notice. It was a great meetup, but shortly after I got back the project was shelved. And I still had no direct leadership. Regardless, I picked up tasks and was running with them… and then in April, right when I got back from lunch and was about to finish writing a pull request description, I noticed slack was just a ⚠️, and I couldn’t access my Automattic email or our internal network. And that was it. Just over 10 years there, and I was one of almost 300 people let go with no warning. I’m still mad, and deeply sad, about how it happened — but it was definitely time to move on.

So the majority of 2025 was spent applying to jobs. I had very little network outside of Automattic. I’d deleted my LinkedIn years ago, hadn’t updated my resume in almost as long, and had never done the traditional leet-code programmer interview. So it was a rough start in a rough market.

More job-hunt details & statistics

I was picky about where I applied, so in that 6-month period I applied to 70 jobs. My application to interview rate was 20%, and I never heard back from about 40%. The shortest time to rejection was 90 minutes (really guys?) and the longest time to an interview request was 4 months (I had already been hired by then). For applications that did lead to interviews, the average time from initial application to completion of the interview process was 29 days.

I did a couple leet-code & system design courses which helped during some interviews, but the ones where I meshed with the team best didn’t use those kinds of tests. I really liked the style where you spend some time building a thing, then talk about it — that felt more realistic to the work than leet-code anyway.

In the interest of networking (and getting out of the house), I found a few tech meetups in Philly. I started attending PhillyJS, Sentry’s CTRL+ALT+Philly, and PHL Code Club. I even gave a talk at Sentry’s meetup on my Korean AI grammar project. Speaking of that, I’ve been tinkering more this year, to explore the JS ecosystem outside of WordPress. It might be more to procrastinate real studying, but I built two AI-ish things for Korean language learning, the grammar breakdown tool & an app for writing practice. I blogged more this year, but still fell short of what I wanted (monthly). Maybe I’ll target at least quarterly next year.

As for the job, I started at EdReports in November. It’s a small education non-profit creating reports used across the country, and I’m basically there to modernize and improve the site. Kind of like the WordPress.org project, except this time we’re moving off WordPress (😞).

I’m closing out the year with baking, as usual (making cookies for family gift boxes), and will be starting the year with some mille-feuille nabe.

Many raccoons climbing the trees and stumps in a swap, reaching towards the camera.
Jan: Swamp tour in New Orleans, saw alligators and these demanding raccoons.
Nighttime, street view of a parade of musicians in old-style circus costumes.
Feb: Still in New Orleans, went to chewbacchus, a sci-fi themed mardi gras parade; might’ve been the highlight of the trip.
Street lined with crowds as a double-decker bus goes by, guy in the bus is raising a trophy & everyone is cheering.
Feb: Eagles won the superbowl, so there was a parade – it was about 2 blocks from my house so we walked over to watch.
Two cakes with Happy Birthday signs and lit candles, one says "Happy 100th Birthday" and has just caught fire.
March: My Babci’s 100th birthday (yes, the sign caught fire right as I took the photo).
A selfie of Mel & I in a winter forest, just bare trees in the background. It's sunny, so we're smiling and squinting into the camera.
March: Mel & I walked through Avalon nature preserve on a trip to visit my parents.
Noodle, a medium-sized, light colored brindle dog, sitting in the park.
April: Lunch in the park, with Noodle.
A plate of sliced focaccia topped with halved cherry tomatoes.
May: Made a tomato focaccia for the neighborhood block party.
Lemon and Noodle on leash, standing in the shade of a tree, with Mill Pond (dry) and the old mill building in the background.
May: Another trip to visit my parents, another little nature visit — we tried going back to Avalon but it was closed, so we walked around the area instead.
A grow bag planter with a trellis in the center, with 4 squash plants around it, growing up the trellis. Some herbs also hang off the trellis in small pots.
June: Backyard gardening, I put this trellis in a grow bag to grow some Kabocha squash.
Looking up at the bright blue sky behind green leaves.
July: Sitting in the park under the trees.
A suburban backyard with bird feeders and seeds on the ground, with 2 deer and a fawn, almost on the patio.
Aug: Visiting my parents again, they regularly have deer come through the yard.
In a sandy park, Lemon, a medium-sized, darker brindle dog sitting in the foreground, Noodle sniffing a stick behind her. Lemon's panting so her long tongue is showing.
Aug: Lemon and Noodle at the dog park
Linkin Park on stage from our seats with all the lights pink, the singer is spotlit walking around.
Aug: Saw Linkin Park in concert, first stadium concert since the last time I saw them (2007).
My iPad screen open to Producing Open Source Software, with a section highlighted that says "If not handled carefully, this can divide a project into in-group and out-group developers […] they'll leave for a project that seems more like a meritocracy and less like unpaid labor for someone else's benefit."
Oct: Reading Producing Open Source Software at a cafe, for Jorbin’s book club.
Mel in front of a wall of artwork, her piece is a digital painting in color of a beer glass on a wooden outdoor table.
Oct: Mel had artwork in a show at a local brewery (the beer glass in the center).
A craft workspace with a 3d print frame with lights inside, and 2 3d prints with the Huntrix symbol, painted pink. Paint and paintbrushes in the background.
Oct: My Halloween costume was a Huntrix fan, so I 3d-printed the light wand accessory & painted the logo on a hoodie.
Kimchi ingredients: salted cabbage, chopped carrots and radish, and the seasoning paste in the background.
Nov: Made a batch of kimchi (it came out great).
A poorly lit basement, the light is coming from behind the camera highlighting 8+ Christmas reindeer decorations.
Nov: Visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, also had to help bring up all the xmas decorations including a herd of deer.
On first glance it's just a woodsy fall scene, brown leaves on the ground and sparse trees. If you look closer, there's a dog in the center of the frame (Lemon), but she blends in to the leaves with her coloring.
Nov: Lemon at the dog park creating a hidden object game.
A container of cookies, two kinds: one is a pale pink color, the other a bright green.
Dec: Red bean & matcha vegan crinkle cookies for a friend’s holiday party.
A 3-level rack with lemon shortbread cookies filling each level.
Dec: Lemon polenta cookies for family cookie gifts.

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