Apr 2025 | The END
Hi There,
This is it. Today is April 30th. The last official day - and the last blog post - of my 1-year sabbatical. Last year, I took time off from being a Data Viz Analyst for a bank to do the following:
- Reconnect with my environmental science roots
- Study urban waterfronts and food insecurity
- Figure out how to best communicate everything that I’ve learned
I suppose whether or not I achieved any of these goals is rather subjective. So, let’s do a short recap of the last six months.
Image credit for above: My neighbourhood in April, Saachi Sadcha
Monthly Recap
First Half of the Year
If you’d like to see a quick review of the first six months of this sabbatical, please click the link to my October 2024 blog post here: https://saachisadcha.ca/october-2024.
The first six months felt more like a blur of questions, articles, random 3D models, and lots of time coding things that I thought I was going to use. In contrast, the last six months were more contemplative. I slowed down and really thought about the message of the short story I was writing, and then built accordingly.
Image Credit: All images in this section are made by Saachi Sadcha
Nov 2024
In November, I showcased what it was like to code an interactive data viz in ReactJS with a chatbot: frustrating but productive. Unfortunately, CSS and chatbots don’t seem to go as well together, so I bought a CSS course in November to help me achieve the right look and feel of my website.
Since then, I realized that I haven’t opened up ChatGPT4.o that much. Perhaps I’m over the beginner’s learning curve, and now I’m more effectively able to use the forums and tutorials when I need help coding. I still use AI, but only when I know it’ll be more efficient, and often, it's not.
December 2024
In December, I replaced the stuffy, information-saturated, difficult-to-navigate main page of WateryTrees with a scrollable short story about people in a bakery relaying their memories about food growth on the city waterfront. Happily, I can say that I’m still using this short story as the basis for my illustrated and interactive web app.
I also did myself the biggest favour and created a ReactJS template, which I paired with a documented workflow. So far, I’ve used this template to create two apps:
- my interactive CV in two weeks
- a Python analysis of ingredient impact on the environment in two days.
January 2024
This was the month I created the interactive CV mentioned above. I’ve since sent it out to multiple people to test and, in one case, as part of a job application.
It’s been really gratifying to showcase all the skills I’ve worked on this year in one place and also share them with others in a fun way.
February 2025
Until this point, I was holding on to all the apps and stories I had created - or planned to create - for WateryTrees. So February was a bit of a cleanse. I trimmed my website down to just one illustrated short story with some interactivity. The structure is now very similar to the interactive CV I created in January.
I stopped being a hermit in February and reached out to people in both the virtual and the real world. I hadn’t meant to start any job-search activities until closer to April, but the latest worldwide developments made me seek out other people and their perspectives.
Lastly, I spent a lot of time thinking about digital paintings.
March 2025
March was, global news aside, quite chill. Besides networking more, I continued to work on WateryTrees. My main focus was on testing a few ways to convey real-world information to the reader without breaking their immersion.
I also sculpted and painted all the models I needed for the 3D interactive food components, which are all now incorporated into my project.
What I learned and Gained
Knowledge-wise, I feel like I’ve both learned a ton and barely scratched the surface during this year. Besides learning that writing can be enjoyable, I learned that food insecurity, particularly in a Southern Ontario context, is an income issue. This income/affordability issue is closely linked with the physical structure of our urban environments and our increasingly tested ability to respond to local climate events. Happily there are a plethora of very real and active solutions targeting food insecurity and making our urban centers more climate-resilient.
My hope for this project is that I properly highlight these solutions and successfully convey what I think a city might look like if these very real solutions became the norm. To me, with what little I know, that’s a city that houses a wetland with active stewardship. It's a complex and circular food oasis that provides plenty of resources and services. It's not a perfect utopia - because that's utterly boring -, but a more equitable future built from the bottom up.
Image Credit: TD Bank Green Roof, photo by Saachi Sadcha
There's only one thing I wish I had learned earlier in this journey: I wish I had I known that this sabbatical is actually a celebration. In the beginning, I just wanted to prove to myself that I could accomplish something big for myself, by myself. But I have worked 12 years without a real break, and developed really good financial habits, and all that led to me being able to take time off. A full year to learn what I want and build what I want is itself a celebration. I only realized this a few days ago, and when I did, I felt something in my brain kind of settle into...contentment? Satisfaction? Whatever it was, it was a good feeling.
Was it worth it?
Image Credit: Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash
When I started dreaming up this adventure, I thought I’d immerse myself in this world, get it out of my system, and then return to the real world. Make my peace with not being an environmental scientist and just focus on being a responsible adult, so to speak. However on these very last days, I'm wondering what else I can write about or build with ReactJS, CSS, Unreal Engine, Blender etc. after I'm totally done building my current project.
I don’t know if any of these tools will ever pay any bills or if my career will be negatively or positively impacted by taking a whole year off. While these are practical things to consider, I don’t think they’re super relevant. In the future, when I look back on this year and wonder if I have progressed enough in skill or knowledge, I will read just my first and last blog posts and know that I did. So to me, the knowledge I’ve gained about myself and sustainability, the new skills I’ve acquired, and the creation of a “new playground” for myself make this year entirely worth it.
Plans for the blog and website
Image Credit: Saachi Sadcha
I wish I could say I ended this month relaxed and focused on the future. Instead, I spent too much time either ‘doomscrolling’ the news or watching videos of people playing Minecraft. It kind of felt like I was teetering between two tiers of my brain - one where I needed to be informed as soon as new developments arose, and another where I just needed to escape the onslaught and increasing uncertainty.
Somehow, I managed to make time for my project, which is still a work in progress:
WateryTrees2039 (WIP): https://2039waterytrees.vercel.app/
The short story and interactive models are complete. Over time, I will replace the placeholders with static paintings, interactive data viz, and definition cards. In the end I should have a complete illustrated story with a bit of interactivity, which any reader, on practically any device, can easily engage with. And hopefully enjoy.
This is the last sabbatical blog post, and so I want to take this time to, once again, thank everyone who supported my decision to take time off to make something for myself, by myself. This basically includes everyone I spoke to. Surprisingly, no one was skeptical or concerned. And I really appreciate you all for that. So, for the last time, and quite heartfully:
Thank you kindly,
Saachi