Since I began on my career journey, my path has been anything but straight. But the step I’m preparing to take feels like the biggest one yet. I am considering shifting from wildlife conservation to data science. Wait, scratch that hesitancy. I am switching careers.
I didn’t lose my passion for wildlife conservation. But it became clear that my brain craved more problem solving for which I had some semblance of control. Organizational health, on the other hand, is a complicated, multifaceted problem for which I am not in a position to suggest solutions, let alone solve. But using data to answer questions? That I can do. I just need to go back to taking classes, this time remotely.
I am a problem solver by nature, so when I had the revelation last Wednesday that I wanted to be a data scientist, I began searching immediately for courses, certificate programs, and other resources to augment my learning. By Saturday night I was taking an introductory Python course on Udemy with two other courses in the cue. By Sunday I was listening to the Becoming a Data Scientist podcast while shopping for groceries. Now if only I had more hours in a day.