print(‘hello, world!’)
I am just starting on my path to become a data scientist with General Assembly’s Data Science Immersive! I am very excited to begin this journey and jump into the world of data science!
In our increasingly connected world we are surrounded by data every day. From the time we wake up and check our smartphones to the time we unwind and stream our favorite show, we are connected to data in so many ways. Our social media habits, tv-show streaming habits, and our shopping habits all add to the data that can be collected and used to make things convenient for us, to advertise and sell to us, and to learn about human habits. With all of this data constantly being collected, it seems very timely to be studying the workings of data and how it can affect our lives, especially after checking world COVID-19 statistics daily.
I graduated with a degree in engineering and worked as an environmental engineer for a few years after college. During this time, every project I contributed towards dealt with data in some capacity and solutions to problems were driven by data analysis. Seemingly without realizing it, I have been exposed to so many data-driven problems and solutions both professionally and personally. My background in data has been mostly dealing with large spreadsheets, however I am quickly learning the power of Python and data science and all they have to offer.
I have always been interested in the field of data science and computer engineering, however I had little experience in the field aside from introductory courses taken online. Since early 2020 and the start of COVID-19, I began exploring other career paths. When searching for new job opportunities, I saw a pattern in what the jobs I was interested in and applying for, and they all had similar requirements — experience with Python (or similar) and an understanding of data-based decision making. This led me to find General Assembly and I was immediately impressed by their Data Science Immersive.
For a while now, I have been interested in statistics and data in general. The past few years, specifically, have been very interesting in the world of data science and statistics. We are constantly surrounded by current COVID dashboards and climate data, as well as even smartphone “screen time” data. The data itself, once understood, can provide key insights in how people interact with each other, technology, and the world. Data can help analyze past events and help people make better decisions in the future. The more I learn about this field the more complex it gets.
In the next few months, I hope to graduate with a deep understanding of some of the technologies used to analyze and interpret data to make decisions. I hope to gain the skills necessary to first understand the source of the data, “clean” the data, and take away key insights from datasets. I have been learning a few of the numerous packages that Python has that can aid in this task, and am so excited to dive deeper.
I have just scratched the surface of seeing how impactful this knowledge can be and how understanding data can help people make decisions everyday. So I ask you - how can having a deeper understanding of data help solve problems in your everyday life?