Cohort Stories: Meet Melaku
Boston: vol. 8, no. 58 — guest post by Melaku Mohammed
My journey to Hack.Diversity has surely been unconventional. Faced with a lack of internship opportunities due to inadequate experience during my sophomore year summer, I faced a significant career hurdle. Determined to overcome this obstacle, I dedicated my summer and winter breaks to learning Python and SQL, enhancing my skills and increasing my appreciation for programming and statistics, helping to develop a profound interest in data analysis through computational tools. Driven by this enthusiasm, I forged a study on Imposter Syndrome among STEM students, leading to a transformative junior year summer, working as a robotics and Python instructor to grades 1–12, and researching automated malaria detection using machine learning at UMass Boston. Such a journey helped me build the foundational skills and confidence needed as I continue to grow. Now at Hack.Diversity, I recognize this ideal environment, helping to continue this process through its dynamic and supportive guidance.
What excites me most about technology is its ever-changing nature. The opportunity to both learn and innovate within this field of work seems to never come to a halt. As of now, I am particularly enthusiastic about further exploring the expansive sub-field of machine learning. The recent spike in the deployment of machine learning models across different industries has put its transformative potential on full display. Consequently, it has made me want to broaden my understanding of its diverse applications as well. Although such a pursuit primarily increases my technical proficiency, staying aligned and potentially contributing to the latest developments is what truly excites me. The constant evolution, discovery, and applications that this field offers are what keep me engaged.
Going forward in my career, my primary motivator is the desire to meaningfully impact those around me through data analytics. Inspired by the hardships that both myself and those around me have overcome, I am driven to support and elevate individuals facing similar challenges.
As I see it, data analytics, as a field of study, serves as a versatile, powerful tool capable of addressing and tackling key societal issues across diverse sectors, providing valuable insights and practical solutions that can enhance both individual lives and communities at large.
Through the use of this empirical-based tool, I am excited at the prospect of informing healthcare policymaking, as leveraging such insights has been and will continue to revolutionize policymaking. Through such a role, I aim to not merely serve the purpose of earning a livelihood but have the privilege of making a meaningful contribution to society as well.
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