Learning Data Science: One Month Update

One month ago I set out on a journey to add more skills to my profile to become a successful data scientist - https://themathlab.hashnode.dev/i-want-to-become-a-data-scientist

Today is 1st of March so I thought I should do a quick progress update with you. As of now I have covered the following topics in my syllabus (within the boundaries of my syllabus of course. I don’t claim I have conquered everything and I know everything about these topics).

1. Foundations of Math - Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Discrete Math

2. Excel focusing on data science - Functions, Pivot tables, Charts, Power Query, Conditional Formatting

3. Git - Setting up GitHub, Installing git, basic git commands like add, commit, pull, push

4. Jupyter Notebook - Using Jupyter for adding notes, writing code

5. SQL - Basics of SQL and couple of projects with big datasets

I have covered my whole journey in this blog in about 40 articles which I would love if you read. When I started learning I decided that I want to record my whole journey so someone else, even if its just one person can get inspired by it.

There are a few projects that I’m particularly proud of,

• Analyzing the NASA Meteorite Landing Dataset - https://themathlab.hashnode.dev/exploring-nasas-meteorite-landing-dataset-part-1

• Analyzing the Formula 1 Race Results Dataset - https://themathlab.hashnode.dev/analyzing-formula-1-team-performance-with-sql-and-python-part-3

Now the big question. Did I like it? I absolutely loved it.

When I was learning and doing hands on projects on these datasets, I realized how I can apply these skills to absolutely any field. I love formula 1. So I picked up a dataset in Formula 1 and applied what I learned to it. Since I was already very interested in the topic, I myself was excited to see the results of my data analysis. And you already know I love astronomy. So finding a public dataset from NASA and applying my skills was really enjoyable. Now I know that I might not get to work on topic I love, but I wanted to start with things I love so that I develop an interest in learning and I don’t get bored.

You must be thinking that I have covered so much in one month. I think I should mention that I already had a background in Math from high school advanced level and Excel and SQL from my undergraduate studies. So this was mostly refreshing my memory on the basics and building from there. So I was able to accomplish quite a lot within a month. Now is the time I’m stepping into unfamiliar territories. I don’t have prior knowledge in Python, I don’t have prior knowledge in Python libraries for data analytics, I don’t have prior knowledge in PowerBI or Tableau. And I sure as hell don’t know anything about Big Data.

So I guess now I’m starting the real challenge. I’m actually very excited to learn all these things and read journal articles, books and latest research on these topics. In my upcoming articles I will discuss about how we can stay up to date in the ever changing tech field, which journals, magazines and blogs I read and which books I learned a lot from.

So in the next month I’m going to cover the following in our syllabus,

Wow I’m excited to get my hands dirty and do more projects using Python. Stay tuned to this space because I will be writing about everything I learn along the way and see you next month with my two months update.