Everyone these days is talking about big data, data analytics, machine learning, and all other aspects of the realm of Data Science. Over the last year or so, I have taken a bit of time to learn more about writing apps and other general coding skills. My mother is a software engineer for IBM, so I have always been exposed to some general technical skills that I’ve used over the years. I was always relatively strong with using Microsoft Excel to track my statistics as an avid junior golfer, and found the benefit of being able to connect how well or poorly I did with what my statistics were. Those sorts of connections were easy to understand, because I knew that if I improved one of these areas, I would see an improvement in overall performance. However, beyone using excel I never ventured too much further into technical skills. Over the last year or two, I have started experimenting with some code, looking into what the process would be to learn how to build an app, or learn to create a website, but I never really took it too far in terms of interest in the subject, as there were always other, more pressing items to deal with in my life and at work. Over time, as work became less busy or less interesting, I started considering other options, and my mother suggested looking into bootcamps as she had seen many new employees at IBM and other companies getting jobs from a short bootcamp in software development or data science. So I took her advice and started looking into different options to see if it would interest me.
Of course in today’s world, as soon as you even have a thought about a subject, advertisements for different companies always seem to pop up online with social media or other platforms. So when I first saw the Flatiron School’s advertising through instagram, I thought it looked interesting and something I might enjoy learning on the side. I downloaded a copy of the syllabus and then more or less forgot about the program for awhile, despite seeing advertisements still popping up online and in my email. Eventually, after leaving my former job, I began exploring my options some more, and came back to the Flatiron School. I started out with the software development side, since I figured my mother would be able to assist if I had questions or issues with anything, and it seemed an easy enough place to start, plus, no other schools I had seen offered a free program to try it out and see if I liked the material and learning style.
After starting the free software development prep course, I realized almost immediately that it wasn’t very interesting for me and I didn’t particularly understand it. Almost deciding to call it a day and look elsewhere, I decided to try out the free Data Science prep course just in case, and blew through the start of the prep course in about one day. At this point I decided to go ahead and schedule an interview to learn more, and the rest is history. As I have learned more, I have also recognized just how much extra is out there for me to learn, which motivates me to continue pushing myself to improve. I was always strong in math, but only really enjoyed it when I could apply the material to real life scenarios, such as calulus or trigonometry with physics. The Data Science program has really reinvigorated me with relearning subjects from linear algebra to statistics, and while the coding side of things is still difficult, it is much more interesting to know there is a reason to learn everything, and what I can do with it. To be able to write a few lines of code and plot points on a map based on latitude and longitude, or break down a dataset with thousands of lines of information into information that is understandable and presentable is tons of fun, and I can’t wait to continue learning more about it.