3 key lessons I learnt during my journey as a data scientist

On 20th October 2019, my friend and I participated in Shopee’s I’m the Best Coder! Challenge 2019, which is also the largest data analytics competition in Singapore. It was an insightful learning experience, which also reinforced the joy I derive from deriving a wealth of insights through programming. It was also a checkpoint to assess my technical capabilities. The me who first picked up programming 16 months ago would not have imagined I’d have climbed this far. Hence, I thought it was a timely review to look back at the key lessons I learnt as a data analyst thus far.

1. Every clueless moment is a learning opportunity to seize.

The clueless moments were aplenty when I first started. I admit my knowledge is limited and deeply lacking in certain technical expertise. But I ensured I read up, be it online resources or books, practise, translate my knowledge onto my work and side projects, consult my peers and colleagues. On that note, I’m extremely thankful to the people who have encouraged me throughout my journey.

2. Celebrate little triumphs

I often compare my progress against my peers who are leaps and bounds ahead of me in this field. While this comparison pushes me to learn at a quicker pace, truth be told, the imposter syndrome insidiously creeps up too. This quest to narrow the gap between myself and the more technically capable peers can feel like a roller coaster ride. However, I manage it by using it as a motivator to learn new things, by celebrating little triumphs in my projects — it could be as small as debugging my code that previously did not work, or something bigger such as completing a seemingly ambitious projects. Small encouragements like these help to reignite my passion in coding and analytics.

3. The art of continuous improvement

If you get one percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done — James Clear. This mantra has kept and will continue to keep me going in my pursuit to become a Data Scientist, who will eventually be able to guide aspiring tech enthusiasts in their journey in Data Science.