My journey of learning data science started in April, after I attended OpenVis Conf. Until then, I was pretty set on improving my data visualization skills and establishing an independent practice in data viz. After the conference, I realized that I just didn’t speak the same language as expert data visualizers. These folks were amazing artists first, using advanced technical tools to achieve their visions. Also, I realized that it was time I focused on actually solving problems with data rather than finding a way to present it. My brain, I realized, just didn’t function that way, and that realization, to me, was okay. More than okay - it was a beautiful a-ha moment.

While explanatory data analysis is extremely important, I felt more at home exploring data, playing with it to suit my needs, and investing time in understanding the data to extract useful information from it. It felt like kneading dough - a highly satisfying stage in making the perfect roti. And so, just like that, I decided to make the switch into data science.

This blog is all about documenting my learning process in the hope of creating a reminder of the amount of work that goes into learning a new trade, and if it helps new learners, that would be a nice bonus!