On January 21st, 2020, I enrolled in Flatiron School’s Data Science Bootcamp with the intention of gaining and developing the foundational skills and techniques necessary to become a Data Scientist. At the time of writing, I’m about 4 months into the program and in retrospect, I believe my decision to enroll was one of the best choices I’ve made. Along with the opportunities that will be available to me when I finish, the passionate and intelligent peers that I get to collaborate with, and the breadth of exciting, new, and challenging material I’m learning, I am glad I made the decision to learn data science.
As my journey progresses, there is one question I keep getting, why did I decide to learn data science?
Passion for STEM
As an interdisciplinary field, Data Science** incorporates a lot from many other fields like mathematics, statistics, computer science , and information science. I wouldn’t have made the decision to learn data science if it wasn’t for my passion and joy for programming coupled with my love for mathematics. Ultimately, it really brings me joy** to work on the projects and material at my Bootcamp, a feeling I can only compare to the addiction of staying up late to solve calculus equations. Except now instead of calculus equations, it’s iteratively designing regression models and extracting business insights from large datasets, and who can forget making beautiful visualizations.
Adaptability
One of the best parts of data science is that it’s so flexible and can be applied to practically any domain. The high adaptability is clearly reflected in the tools data scientists use, the basic skills they require, and the knowledge they draw from. And with the rising amount of data collection by businesses large and small, data scientists fit in to analyze and provide businesses insights into the relationships that exist within their data. Moreover, since they’re generally skilled at every step of the data lifecycle, many organizations could benefit from having a specialist like a data scientist on staff.
Return on Investment
Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash
At the end of the day I’m investing in myself, my future , so why not take advantage of my youth and break a few eggs trying new things and experimenting with what works and what doesn’t. I don’t know with absolute certainty that my decision will put me in a better financial position in the long run, but I do know that I am getting a head start developing my skills and turning myself into an asset. And since the role is in such high demand, data science is very lucrative. Who wouldn’t want to do something they’re excited about while also making a living, sounds like the perfect scenario.
The journey ahead of me is a long and arduous one, but I know beyond all doubt that I will look back on my decision to learn Data Science as the best choice I made for my career. I can’t wait to see the amazing things I will accomplish. Until then I’ll keep working hard and sharpening my skills.
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