A 2018 Review: Learning and Life.
“ I don’t see a utopia anywhere for me.” ~Bozoma Saint John
I cannot believe that 2018 has come to an end! Just like many years of my adult life, this one started off with lots of projections and goals. Today I want to take off time and share three aspects of my life that I felt can help someone reading this.
Career and Learning
I started off this year at the entry level of my career. Although I had past working experiences around the building of developer communities, I had picked up a keen interest in data science and the year began with me deciding to have a full-time data science career. I used as many learning methods as possible to help me grasp skills that would put me on the job market real quick. Thanks to the R stats community, I realised that I had to learn and write. This made me more creative, gave me the zeal to learn more concepts and the feedback was so encouraging. This is by far an all-around method that not only helped me learn quickly but also helped me showcase my skills and that’s where my entry to the industry began.
What is it like to be a data scientist in the industry?
I often get this question a lot especially when people find out what I do versus my job title. I will mention that being a data scientist in the industry is sometimes not a mentioned task, sometimes no one at your workplace even calls you a data [insert all those cool titles] but it is your responsibility to show your team that data exists and can be incorporated in decision making. My past 3 months at my new workplace have taught me a million lessons about being a data scientist in the field that none of the blogs on the internet ever did.
So if you ask what it is like to be in the industry, it is tough, more than python and R and all those fancy words in the tech and data industry, it is research, asking the right questions and formulating the right comparisons. Soon you realise that models are not the hardest thing but how to formulate the right models.
Close and switch.
Often times friends ask me, why don’t you do tech communities anymore, you should do one more event or which one is the next event/ community you’re organising?
Well after close to four years of being a community organiser, I rediscovered myself. I must appreciate that it is through community organising that I discovered my true strengths and passions. I worked with promoting the use of different technologies, inclusion and diversity in tech and when 2018 came, I decided that I would go out and practice a part of me that I had discovered about two years ago.
It is okay to quit that original thing that everyone thinks you should stick to and go after that thing that you think will help you make a difference in the world. I love to watch communities grow, mentor people into the whole culture but also not forgetting to work on my true self. I think the wave is beautiful to ride but don’t forget yourself in that ride.
Life and relocating.
If you had told me at the beginning of this year that I would not spend the most important holidays with my family I would have said, well unless I am on Mars.
I made a bold decision to move into my own apartment because of numerous reasons but autonomy was top of the list. If you have grown up in a community where personal space is not really a thing you always wonder what it feels like. Well, self-reliance is as challenging as possible but every challenge is a lesson for years to come.
During this year, I had a chance to relocate(bucket list ticked). I enjoyed fitting my entire life in complimentary checked in luggage and starting all over but one big lesson that I learnt from this is it is never too late to start learning again.
Cultural shock, weather changes, language barrier are all things that can take a toll on you while relocating. Be aware and protect your sanity in that phase because things will go wrong and you will have to keep calm.
But amidst all this I have really grown into a responsible human being, I am more aware of my surrounding, I plan and budget and I can account for everything I do. I manage my time and all this comes from constant self-training.
Take time off and alone time.
I used to think holiday/vacation was just a fancy thing but guess what, I found out that it is instead a healthy thing to do. For your health, sanity and well being if not for your muscles, take time off and switch off the work. I took two holidays this year, both were a week long and they gave me a great rest, peace of mind and the best two weeks of 2018.
The activities of this year were taking a toll on me and everything was happening so fast, I was stressed, angry and feisty. One little thing would go wrong and I would lose my mind. The air around me was tense and negative but taking time off and crying, ranting and reading just helped transform this energy into something positive. Life is not all roses remember.
Not only did I enjoy the beautiful sights, but I also rediscovered myself and set my priorities, I learnt how to read a map(not google maps), talked to strangers, took beautiful pictures and spent time with beautiful people.
Hello 2019
2019 is my year to finally confront my bigger fears. I look forward to taking a very bold career step that will probably leave a mark on me for the next ten years. I also plan to start worrying less about things I cannot control and not to mention taking the matters of my diet and exercise routine into my own hands. I keep promising myself a better body but this time I am more than willing to give myself a better body.
Cheers, share with me your learning and life goals.
Happy new 2019 to all of us!
