My experience in the data Science Scholarship Program powered by Bertelsmann
Everything began when I found a post about a scholarship that was being offered at Udacity about Data Science. I inmediately went to the site and started to read about the lessons and also about the opportunity to win a Nanodegree for Phase 2 after completing this one. I felt a little bit insecure thinking about being accepted or not, but I had to try because the opportunity was too good to waste it because of doubts; so, I filled the form and sent it.
I ketp waiting for the results and when on May, 2nd I checked my mail and found I had been accepted I felt truly happy and excited. I had made it!!!!
On May, 8th the challenge started and I found myself checking the content, Facebook group, forum and Slack group. At the beginning I felt intimidated watching the quantity of comments, resources and discussions in all the sites. I felt overwhelmed and, being a quiet person as I used to be, I thought I couldn’t deal with it. First weeks of the challenge I only dedicated to finish the lessons and ocasionally I checked forum or Slack but without participating much. However, it was stated that to be considered for phase 2, participation would also be accounted. An as I wanted to have that chance, I decided that I couldn’t give up without trying. So, I tried to understand how Slack worked and joined some channels, looked for the ones that were more inteseresting for me and started to participate.
It helped me a lot that as times went on, the organization got better!! Right now, I feel really comfortable participating and I am enjoying being able to help others too.
Truth is I am really happy to have tried, because I found tons of positive energy and people eager to learn and colaborate. Thanks to that I am working with other people from around the world in the optional course Project. We hold virtual meetings and are learning together. This is amazing!
Throughout the course, we could learn Statistics, Python and SQL. I was excited about reaching SQL part because it was completely new for me, and now that I have finished it I can say that I’m more than satisfied. I could learn from the basics, practice with a lot of exercises and find support in my scholarmates when I couldn’t understand something.
Summarizing, it has been a great and unique experience. I think that the Data Science Scholarship, besides giving me a lot of knowledge, has changed me and given me better communication skills.
I’m thankful for this opportunity!
