My Data science journey: Appreciation phase

My interest in Data science was really on the surface. I have a background in Engineering and spent a lot of time analysing data, so I figured that this is an area that I'm well suited for.

The alternatives were learning some UI/UX stuff but that's really not my thing because I have the artistic skills of a blind dog. I figured I'd do some backend stuff, but that sounded a bit too intense for my tiny brain because it will involve a lot of coding.

So I was really shocked when I attended my first class and the instructor introduced himself, then went on to introduce python programming language. I was installing Anaconda into my laptop, staring at the Jupyter notebook in disbelief because while I've heard Python is awesome, my initial experience with it a couple of years ago was anything but pleasant.

Sometime in 2018, I took up Python programming independently because, first of all, I was disillusioned with Engineering and I was also looking for excitement. I spent a couple of days playing with codes, and pretty much learned the basics.

In that period, I also learned that perhaps Python might not be my cup of tea because, well, I got bored. The thing is, I lacked motivation and any sort of guidance to tell me what I could actually do with this programming language.

Fast forward to 2022, and I'm in a conference room in CoLab innovation centre in Kaduna, learning this language that I dropped like a bad habit almost four years ago. For me, it is a blast from the past but I'm a different person and in an environment that offers guidance towards a path, so I reckon that this time will be different.

A path

As I mentioned earlier, I have previous knowledge of Python from my own inquiry in 2018. I never went back after that period, so the basic commands aren't fresh in my mind but as we go on, I find it much easier to paint a mental picture of the capacity of this language.

The opportunity to learn in an environment with a course outline curated by industry professionals makes it easier to not get disillusioned. In short, I'm actually not bored, and I actually look forward to going to class, which is a big deal for me, because I'm usually a terrible student.

I feel a lot more comfortable in this place because, first of all, the classroom isn't the traditional setup I'm used to in Nigeria. It feels a bit more like a brainstorming session, and the only thing that could make it more fun was if I could be sipping whiskey in class.

I find my interest in learning python growing with every passing day. I also see a future in this field because the instructor talks about different opportunities regularly and secondly because I did my homework.

How I feel

So far, we've covered the basics, talked about the rules of engagement in python programming, learnt about the open-source nature of the library, learnt about lists, manipulating them to handle our needs and even learnt about importing the Pandas library.

We're getting most of the information from Eric Mattes Crash course to Python programming, a very direct and concise way to learn python. However, it is recommended to get further information from other sources.

For me, the individual bits of the class doesn't matter as much as the general idea behind the classes. Understanding how to make lists, working with lists, for, if and other statements we'll learn is important but internalising python programming as a whole matters more.

I like that in a couple of weeks, I'll be able to look at a python code and not see a bunch of complicated scribblings. I like the idea of seeing codes, and either knowing what they mean or knowing how to know what they mean.

I like the idea of being capable of working in a capacity that requires Python programming language. Well, that's still some way down the line, for now, I'm just in the appreciation phase of my journey.

This is just the beginning of a journey that will stretch my imagination and dust the cobwebs off the cognitive part of my brain.

Naturally, I'll be looking for Blockchain applications of the knowledge to bolster my portfolio and add a bit more kick to the quality of research that goes into my publications.

Contact & Support

• Discord: belemo#9593
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/belemo__
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