The Power of a Click: How I Started Learning and Doing Data Science
The past 15 months has been some of the most interesting and significant season of my life and one of the most popular questions I get is 'How did it start?' My favorite answer is: it started with a click.
I wanted a particular job role and SQL was listed as a requirement, and I decided to check what SQL is all about. I remember taking a course online and thinking, 'This is reasonable, this is interesting, I could do more of this' and I kept clicking till I found out there was a whole field out there called Data Science.
You'd think that is supposed to be common knowledge, but my sphere of influence mostly had conversations about healthcare, clinical settings, supply chain and basic IT. Things like Artificial Intelligence was mostly what we heard from afar and not exactly our thing.
Finding My Community
Then I shared my excitement about all the new things I was learning in an article, and a friend said, 'Oh, I know a Pharmacist who does things like this, I think you should meet'. For me, meeting someone who is a Pharmacist into AI made me feel right at home. Even though I knew nothing about Programming, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, AI, etc., I knew I was going to give it my all.
One of the great things about Pharmacy School is that it prepares you to learn diverse concepts without fear, so that was an advantage. I have spent so much time studying, asking, learning, exploring new knowledge, failing, failing again, losing sleep, and I can say I have been changed.
Leveraging Domain Knowledge
When I had the guts to try my first project, I was right at home working with health-related data. I had a better understanding of what domain knowledge means and how that can be leveraged.
When other health professionals started to ask me about this and I could share and pay it forward, I had a better understanding of representation and why it's important to see people 'like us'.
More Than Just Learning AI
It has not been just learning AI or Data Science for me. I have been enlightened to a million ways of asking questions, asking better questions, thinking of ways to find better solutions. It never ceases to amaze me the kind of things one can learn, just by clicking and clicking.
This article was inspired as part of my application for the @Akademy.AI #WeAllFitinAI #WeAllFitWomenScholarship. I know what it feels like to be part of a minority in a new field, how conversations are important, and how inclusion enables innovation. Getting in on this kind of opportunity will set a precedence of possibilities, leveraging domain knowledge and helping others who may want to chart a similar course.