My Data Science Journey
3rd June, 2021
Today, my feet touched the soil of Lithuania, Northern Europe — freshly minted Doctor of Philosophy, incoming data scientist at a reputable firm in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Me — girl from a small street on the outskirts of Ibadan; raised by a single mom, along with three other kids; orphaned at 21 years old.
Me — petite black girl, with just a dream, hope and promises from my Maker.
This is a story of grace, of sweat, tears and sheer grit. It is a story I hope would inspire someone some day. Walk with me.
Some time, 2015
I had always carried a desire with me through the phases of my life — to do great things despite my background and dictations of my circumstances. I knew I would need grace and a higher education. Grace is what the Almighty God gives — no one else does — so I sought Him for that. But higher education? That was my responsibility.
So I got to work!
I applied for my doctoral program at the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ibadan (UI), with two 18-month-olds in my arms and sheer determination.
September, 2018
I was in the third year of my PhD, shuttling from Ibadan to Abeokuta city every week, because that was where my family resided. I had just finished my fieldwork, gathering data from selected locations in Oyo, Ogun and Lagos states.
I was exhausted. But much more, I was dissatisfied. Dissatisfied because travelling to school once a week for seminars and rushing back the same day to get home to my kids was both exhausting and insufficient for my career growth. I was missing out on trainings and skills acquisition going on in school. Two months after my data analysis, I was stuck; I couldn’t get the time nor the space of mind to write up my findings.
I began to carry around this intense feeling that the room I occupied was now too small for me. I wanted more! I kept asking myself, when you finish your PhD, what would you say stands you out from other PhDs that would get you the career you wanted? I had no answer for that. That became my cue to do something about my situation.
I called my husband, who worked out of town at the time and came home on weekends. “TJ, I need us to relocate. I need a mental space to progress my work. I need to do more than I am doing now, explore opportunities. I can’t do it here.”
“If it’s going to make you happy, then let’s do it.”
I was very favoured to have a partner who took my wellness very seriously. If moving to Ibadan was good for my mental health, thus good for my studies and my career goals, yeah let’s do it! We both knew it was going to cost us — we were practically leaving our comfort zone that had been built for 5 years; leave our Abeokuta church family; get a new accommodation; get the kids into a new school; move our stuff interstate; and start building a new network all over again. All of these didn’t come cheap but yeah, let’s do this!
And so the journey began.
December, 2018
We finally made the move! I got what I wanted but we were broke and I was sick from all the stress. But the feeling of being cramped up in a small space lifted, and I felt hopeful for the future! I didn’t know the direction I was going to take, or what lay ahead of me. All I knew was I needed to acquire in-demand skills related to what I was doing, which was research. I knew how to use SPSS and I wanted to know more statistical tools like STATA. But in researching in-demand skills, I discovered there was a software called R and was related to one of the jobs of the future called data science. I didn’t know how to go about learning it, or any other language for that. I just believed God was going to make room.
On 31st December (Crossover Night), I remember praying and journaling — Lord I want to be great and to do great things. I don’t know how to go about it, I only know I am ready to be responsible in doing my part by working hard. Please open the door. Make room and enlarge my coast!
His response to me: For I hold you by your right hand — I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.’ (Isaiah 41:13)
That was more than enough for me!
January, 2019
With a chest cough and anaemia (which I didn’t know I had at the time, despite visiting hospitals), I would rise up every work day, drop my kids at school and head for the Kenneth Dike Library to write up my Results and Discussion. I was determined to finish it up in a month, all tables and figures completed. Great things happen when you rise up daily with a purpose for the day from a clutter-free mind! What I couldn’t achieve in 3 months, I did in1.5 months!
April, 2019
I was at my parents-in-law’s that day, due to being sick, when I got a call from my supervisor who asked if I was free for the coming week, because my department had nominated me for a workshop. I wanted to say no, I wasn’t well and needed rest. But this thought came, Yinka, you were the one who said you needed to maximize opportunities, isn’t this why you moved down here? Say yes jo.
I said yes, I would be available.
I got to the workshop and it turned out to be a training on R for Agricultural Data Analysis, organized by Feed the Future, USAID in collaboration with the Michigan State University. I was shocked! This was what I wanted all along! Thank God I didn’t say no.
The lead facilitator, Dr Osawe Wellington, would always remember me as the lady who asked so many questions. I got interested in the programming language even though that terrain was foreign to me.
Two days into the program, we began to network. There was one of the participants who seemed to know much about R already because he was really flowing in class and engaging the facilitators, so I walked up to him and told him I would like to really know R. Would he mind if I disturbed him from time to time?
“Oh, no problem,” he said. “I belong to a community interested in inspiring more women to know how to program. In fact, there is an event this Saturday for just women called Women in Data Science (WiDs). You should come.”
This was it! Exactly what I was looking for — a room for growth!
Mr Ahmed Olanrewaju(@ABONO2000) introduced me to AI Saturdays Ibadan and that was the beginning of my journey into data science.
I attended WiDs 2019 and all I did was stare at the mouths of the speakers as they talked about data science, machine learning algorithms, Anaconda and Python (I thought those were supposed to be some species of snakes, right? 😁). I didn’t understand a thing but I told myself, come WiDs 2020, I would be speaking at this same event.
Again, I got to work!
Every Saturday after, I showed up for AI Saturdays Ibadan meetups. I would come to class and leave more confused than I came, but I kept showing up. I would go back home and try to practise what I had learnt at the meetup. I would call ABONO, Lucas Agboola, Ibrahim Olagoke, Raheem Nasirudeen and ask questions on what I didn’t understand. I would also ask, could I do this? These men kept on encouraging me to keep at it.
Before I knew it, Python began to open itself up to me and I could write simple codes.
Later, I would meet Ezekiel Ogundepo who introduced me to machine learning and building models which helped me in a competition that got me a spot at the famous Data Science Nigeria AI Bootcamp. That was the beginning of my confidence that I really could do this!
I started to juggle PhD, data science and raising my kids. I went from being a learner and outsider to being a co-facilitator of our Saturday meetups.
It was indeed a rollercoaster ride, there is no sugarcoating it. I am a die-hard believer of excellence. I believe so much in diligence. If something was worth doing at all, I had better do it excellently. That meant my PhD presentation had to be top notch, my kids must be doing well at school and other areas of their lives, and I must keep building my data science skills.
That was a lot of balls to juggle. I had to be intentional about my time, be smart about how I use it and be creative in distributing this scarce resource between my responsibilities.
I had a special spot in my kitchen sink where I would place my phone to watch Python videos with the aid of my Bluetooth headset, while washing plates and cooking. Later in the night, when I had sorted every other thing, I would try to code what I had learnt before sleeping off. Every waiting period was filled with me learning one topic or the other. I began to use to-do lists more than before to track and manage my activities for the day. I had to find every way to achieve my data science goals in this very busy season of my life.
December, 2019
I started to seek opportunities in data science. I applied for the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors (MSLA) program and I was selected. From Nigeria, I am sure I was the oldest and the only PhD, majority of the participants were undergraduates. But I was not bothered, what mattered to me was I wanted to grow.
I applied for the Data Science for Social Good summer fellowship (a 3-month internship) and I was rejected. My confidence dipped. Maybe I wasn’t good after all. There are a lot of skilled people in this field, how do you, from a biological background, expect to cope? Maybe, this isn’t for you, I thought. I moped around for almost a week, did nothing Python or data science. But one week later, I woke up one morning and asked myself, how many years have you spent learning this thing that you are blaming yourself for getting rejected? You will continue to learn this thing, las las if you fail, you have your PhD and your field to fall back on. But know your own opportunity will come and you will not miss it. Stand up and keep learning!
So I picked up my PC and continued coding.
March, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic was here and the country was on lockdown. With the lockdown came several opportunities for free learning on popular data science platforms (A big shout out to , , , , and Microsoft Learn for opening up their sites and giving scholarships during this period. Thank you!). I had more time to devote to honing my skills.
One day, Ernest Owojori told me he was starting DSN AI+ Club, UI and invited me to be a co-facilitator. We would be conducting all our classes online. I said yes. Saying yes meant more responsibilities but saying yes also meant more growth.
Ernest became a leader, a teacher, a co-facilitator, a friend, a supporter and a brother all at once. Because of him, I learnt to use Slack, Medium, Google Meet/Zoom and other tools. He pushed me to teach and to write articles on what I had taught. He encouraged me to sign up for speaking engagements on data science.
‘Mrs Oresanya, you can do this,” he always said. He is a brother I am always grateful for.
Teaching others and speaking at data science events meant I started to grasp more about the subjects. In 2020, what I said to myself in WiDs 2019 came to pass. I spoke data science!
At MSLA, I met Olumide Ogundare and Adefemi Afuwape, who made quite an impression on me through their determination to succeed and doggedness. So I approached them and asked them to mentor me, show me the way and be my accountability partners. I wanted to be Microsoft Certified. So I wrote an action plan and submitted it to them, with the deal for them to stay on my neck. These amazing men encouraged me all the way.
I wrote Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) and passed. Next, I went for DP-100 and passed. I became a Microsoft Certified Azure Data Scientist Associate. My confidence grew!
August, 2020
DSN AI Bootcamp was fast approaching and I was contemplating whether or not to do it. I had fallen sick again, due to anaemia (which was discovered that year, glory to God) and I was just recovering.
Again, I was at my parents-in-laws’ (looks like good things happen to me in this place😊) when I came across a call for an application for the Digital Explorers Program aimed at providing a fully-sponsored six-month internship to up to 15 female data scientists in Lithuania. That was my first time of hearing about this country. I looked at the eligibility requirements and my spirit confirmed this was right for me. But wait, 6 months? Where would I put my kids?
I voiced this out to my brother-in-law who was sitting across from me, doing his own work. “OBJ, I just saw a data science opportunity but can I do this sha? Can I go away for six months without the kids?”
My brother-in-law said, “Apply first, when you get to that bridge, you will cross it. Who knows, it might end up being remote. Apply first.”
The first seed was sown.
I picked up my phone and called my husband, “TJ, there is this data science opportunity…but the kids…”
“Apply first. When we get to that bridge, we will cross it.” Fertilizer was poured on the seed.
One more voice remained. A very important one to me. My father-in-law.
“Daddy, there is this opportunity to practise data science in Europe, I will be away for six months.”
“Go and apply. Don’t worry about the kids, God will help us to take care of them.”
And water was added for the seed to grow!
Qualifying to participate in the DSN AI bootcamp was the first step to being eligible so I got started with my code.
We were required to be amongst the first 250 participants and that meant tuning your model so as to get a more accurate score. At one point, I got tired but my husband would say, ‘Yinka, let’s try one more time, if you go higher, then you will stop.” He did this until I got to 141 on the leaderboard and we rested our case.
This made me one of the 50 female participants selected to compete for the 15 slots. The journey to Lithuania began.
The second task for the selection process was a coding test. I was not good with algorithmic coding yet, coming from biological sciences. I came out of the test very sad because I knew I didn’t perform well. I remember calling my dear friend, Ayodele Awokoya, to express my fear and concern. She encouraged me not to give up, let’s just give our fingers crossed.
I was selected to move on to the next stage. It was a miracle! My score was low and so I knew I needed to build up myself in this area.
After this, we had a 3-day workshop where three take-home tests were assigned to be submitted in 24 hours: one was on identifying business problems and drawing hypotheses for analysis; the second and third was about using SQL and Power BI for data analysis respectively. I had no prior knowledge of SQL and Power BI even though I had heard of them before. So I got to work!
November, 2020
Nigeria had lifted the COVID-19 lockdown but Nigerian universities’ academic staff, ASUU, was still on strike, so I had my mornings to myself — an estimate of 5 hours. I would drop the boys off at school and head over to BuildSpace Hub, opposite the International Conference Center, UI, to study.
Thankfully, Udemy had made Ahmed Oyewo’s Power BI course free around that season, so I had access. Ahmed Oyewo is a good teacher. I sat down with his videos and learnt the fundamentals of Power BI in a day! Enough for me to earn an 80% score in my assignment.
As for SQL, as soon as I learnt they would require us to have the fundamental knowledge of SQL, I sat down with DataCamp’s SQL Fundamentals and learnt the fundamentals in two days. I had a sponsored subscription, thanks to the Artificial Intelligence group led by the amazing Dr Sakinat Folorunso.
This was a demanding period for me. I would learn for 5 hours in the morning, pick up the kids at 1:45 pm, rush home to attend the workshops for 2 pm, and then get started on the assignment to be submitted the next day. I remember particularly the drama around the SQL assignment. After spending several hours trying to figure out the analysis and the proper coding of queries and subqueries, I finally got it right. I was about to email my submission when my screen went blank and my file disappeared. It was 8:45 pm — 15 minutes to the deadline. I began to hyperventilate.
“Jesus, Jesus, help me!” I cried.
My kids were alarmed. “Mummy, what’s wrong? What’s wrong!”
“My work, my work. Jesus, help me.”
I would be truthful to say I couldn’t remember what I did, but somehow I was able to retrieve the latest version of the file and submit it around 8:55 pm. My heartbeat came down but I was exhausted from the adrenaline. However, my children had their Continuous Assessment test the following morning and I needed to revise with them. We sat at it for the next 1 hour before I stood up again to go clear up for the next day. When I saw my score, which was a 100%, tears dropped from my eyes. The stress was all worth it.
I was shortlisted together with other 24 participants. The next stage was a series of soft skills interviews and a technical test from Turing College, where we would be receiving our data science training, in addition to the internship. Again, I had to face a coding test. The night before the test, I decided to go through a computation thinking course in Coursera in order to get familiar with the concept. It helped and that got me an interview with Turing college.
Some interviews later, we were required to submit our profiles for matching with Lithuanian companies. Several profile revisions later, I was sent a task from one of the companies. Now I needed to use the analytical aspect of Power BI and I had little knowledge of that. I knew what I wanted to do but I didn’t know the DAX expressions to use so I reached out for help on the Naija Power BI User Group and someone was kind enough to point me in the right direction.
An interview later, I was sent an email one beautiful morning that I had been selected to be a Digital Explorer and would be going to Lithuania for six months to learn and practise data science!
The two months leading to my departure for Lithuania was gruelling. I had started training at Turing College remotely, I was running around to complete the administrative process that would lead to my PhD defence; and I was processing my travel documents and preparing myself and the kids for relocation. I was stretched thin!
31st May, 2021
I defended my PhD and it was a beautiful moment for me. Did I cry? No! But my heart was full of gratitude and wonder for the way God kept his promise, taking me by the right hand and leading me on the journey to beginning my career.
Lessons on the way:
- Success is going to demand very much from you. You want success? Be ready to work hard and be stretched thin. But also be ready to enjoy the fullness of joy that fills your heart when it comes. Get to work!
- You do not succeed by yourself. You need God to take you by the hand and people, young and old, to help you along the way.
- Never feel too big or too old to learn, stay humble, ask for help, ask questions, make friends, and the sky is your limit.
- Never be embarrassed to be a beginner or a novice at any point in your journey. It is novices that become experts. They just kept at it.
- This is for women — you might not have power of choice over the family that created you but you certainly have power of choice on the type of family you join or create. Choose patiently, choose wisely. I was favoured to be set into a wonderful family. It is a critical factor to my success story!
- This is also for women— You can be anything you want to be, even after kids or a certain age, you just need help and a lot of support. Everybody needs help and support. So, never give up on yourself. You are not old and useless in your thirties or more. Rise up and chase your dreams. Don’t let doubt hold you back.
3rd June, 2021
Today, my feet touched the soil of Lithuania, Northern Europe and with my Maker holding me by my right hand; my husband carrying me in his arms and my parents-in-law carrying me on their back, I know it is only upwards from here.
(A big thank you to the Digital Explorers Team and Turing College for this awesome opportunity and support all the way. I will forever be grateful!)
