Early 2022
I made some changes in early 2022 after realizing in 2021 that my schedule was just not productive with my future interests. By mid-2021, I had completed my data science certificate program at Northwestern University, two rotations as a teaching assistant with the same program, 4 data science online classes, and multiple self-study projects.
Between my full time job at Northwestern and my professional development, my schedule was typically booked between 6am to 10pm everyday except for Sunday. A slow weeks was 90 hours.
A challenge to this schedule was that I switched between technologies multiple times each day. My job at Northwestern was not a technical position but I did whatever was needed. Aince I could code, there were many tasks that had been done manually but in cases where a quick turnaround was needed then I would often automate the task. Switching technologies and being busy with the certificate program always made me feel that I was not advancing my skills - as soon as I would be getting into the zone with one technology it was time for me to move to the next.
In January 2022, I started to work remotely doing several technology projects on a gig-like situation. It was kind of a odd situation but it worked well for both of us since we both needed some flexibility in our schedules. I wanted to continue teaching at the certificate program and my Northwestern schedule was not going to accomodate my schedule well and I was scheduled for some foot surgery where I would be off my feet for weeks and have some physical therapy afterwards. I also wanted to see family for a few weeks - my parents are older and had only been able to see them once during the two years of the pandemic.
It’s been a great experience so far. My schedule is still busy but I have been able to go more indepth with technologies and I feel that my fluency when coding in python, sql, javascript and other languages has gotten much better. I have also become a better teaching assistant because I went back to the lessons and modified them and polished up some of my terminology and explanations. I definitely had a feeling of imposter syndrome prior to my changes.
So at my six month checkpoint, I feel that I am ready to explore more areas of the data science field. The skills of the trade are well within my grasp and now I am working more on the art form of the trade. My current personal goals are to expand my experiences with simulations, machine learning algorithms, time series analysis, and geospacial analysis.
Looking back, I should have probabably made this jump about two years ago. Working that schedule did not really let me focus and process the meaning of what I was learning. The one truly wise decision I made was working as a data science teaching assistant. The experience of reading different styles of coding and explaining concepts in different ways has helped develop a strong foundation. Now I just need some real world case studies to apply these tools to make decisions.
