Falling in love with data analytics

Earlier this year, I wrote this in my journal:

I’m starting a course in Data Analytics. Google’s certificate program to be precise. 

I know, I know it doesn’t sound like me. I don’t consider myself to be a numbers person. But I have been curious about analytics. I find myself wanting to follow the data to make better-informed decisions. I go by intuition a lot, and tho it works, I need to be able to back it up.

I recognize that this is very basic and data analytics might be a lot more complex than just knowing how to back up a strategy. But I’m paying attention to my heart, to my curiosity, to the nudging and I want to see where this takes me. I’m fully aware that this might kick my butt and I might realize it’s not for me. But I love learning and firmly believe no knowledge is ever wasted!

When I wrote that, I wanted to be data literate and learn to solve problems more empirically. But I have learned a lot more than that, and— permit me to say— fallen in love with it. It’s a lot like storytelling; the data answer your questions through observed patterns while being mindful of biases and inconsistencies, then you report it.

Photo by Lukas via Pexels

I first dipped my toes for a week in July. After a 7-week break, I revisited it in September and did 4 courses from the specialization with 4 more and one Capstone project to go.

I’ve learned a lot about the data analytics process from asking to sharing, structured thinking, and data cleaning. I also discovered the magic that is spreadsheets and SQL. There’s still so much to uncover and I’m giddy about it.

In all this, there’s something to be said about not putting oneself in a box and being open to exploring new facets of ourselves.

PS: The journal excerpt has been edited for clarity. Typos, emojis, ‘lol’s, and endless ellipsis, commonly spotted when I’m rambling on my phone, have been removed.