Week 1

Task List:

• learn python
• watch webinar
• machine learning lecture with dr bein
• review website milestone requirements
• start website

Challenges This Week:

Organzing where to first begin was a real challenge for me this week. I feel there is a lot for me to learn before I will have the confidence that I will be useful in a career or in reserach without guidance.

Meeting with Dr Bein and actually discussing what was expected of me in greater detail was helpful in mitigating my anxiety, but I still feel there is a long road ahead before I believe I belong and can succeed in this industry. After the first meeting, she suggested I record the meetings to help in case I forgot something. I was overwhelmed by the overload of information due to anxiety and had a hard time keeping the tasks and goals organized in my head. I wasn’t sure if it was okay to record since I believe you’re supposed to ask for permission to record. I’m really glad she said suggested it since I have a hard time speaking up and advoacting for myself.

Leading up to this, I have found many resources on what topics I’d need to learn to work in data science, as well as specific courses or books to help me reach my goal. Over this summer, I am planning on using a course I found a month ago on edX for learning how python is used in data science. I haven’t had much experience yet in python, but the course includes some background information. I feel pretty confident that this course will help prepare me sufficiently for basic tasks I might have to complete.

Dr Bein gave me ample guidance in what my first steps should be as well as additional resources I might use to reach the primary objectives for beginning data science. I will likely use the resources and tasks she suggested as a supplement/practice for what I learn in the course to adequately prepare. At the end of the week, Dr Bein met with me on zoom to give me a crash course on machine learning. I really enjoyed the depth of information and mathematical formulas despite it being a bit beyond my understanding at the moment.

Resources used this week:

• Python in Data Science - UCSD on edx
• codeacademy

Next Steps:

• finish data science overview in edx course
• continue learning python basics
• determine next steps for milestones and plan ahead