R! You Going?! - posit::conf(2023)
Presented by SherAaron Hurt 3 things to remember when starting your journey to become a data scientist Everyone will have a different journey when becoming a data scientist. However, there are a few tips to consider to make the journey less daunting and more enjoyable. Listen, as I tell my story as a data scientist and offer resources and tips to build confidence for those who are new to their journey. The tools are available however, it is not always easy to find them. keywords: openscience, The Carpentries, R programming language, GPS, data science journey, data science resources Materials: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheraaronhurt/ - carpentries.org/ Presented at Posit Conference, between Sept 19-20 2023, Learn more at posit.co/conference. -------------------------- Talk Track: Teaching data science. Session Code: TALK-1097
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Transcript#
This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.
I hope I'm going because I need y'all to come with me because I can't go by myself at this point. But hey, everyone, before we get started, I want to draw your attention to the bottom left side of the screen. So if you have any questions whatsoever, make sure you click that link. And also if you want to connect with me during at any point, you can find my information on LinkedIn.
So let's get into it. They got me using a Mac and I'm not a Mac person, y'all just FYI. So I'm Cher and I want you to consider me as your personal GPS. That's gentle push system for the next 15 to 20 minutes. We're going to get prepared for a journey that you may or may not have been planning. I know, I know you did not come to this session to learn about work of a travel guide or to map out a trip or even worse, a hypothetical trip. But trust me, by the time you leave here, you'll be telling everyone that you need a new GPS system and that's a gentle push system.
Losing data scientists along the way
Every day we're losing data scientists and not because people are not excited, but because they start learning and then become stuck or they get lost without direction. They do not have the confidence, support, or resources to keep going.
Activists Marion Wright Elderman stated, you can't be what you can't see. And this resonated with me earlier in my data science career because I didn't see many people who looked like me. People of color or women who could give me that comfort of going to ask them questions, getting information about their experience, or just being a mentor to me as mentioned earlier in today's session by Keynote David Mesa.
My background and journey to the Carpentries
So let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'm Cher, the director of workshops for the Carpentries and that was my introduction to R. I was data curious, but didn't quite know where to go from there. I hadn't mapped out my journey. I was not following the GPS, the original one or the one we learned about earlier today. I'm a city girl from Detroit and when I was deciding where to go to college, initially I thought I wanted to go to an HBCU, that's a historically black college where there was a shopping mall on every corner and not an entire state over.
But needless to say, I attended Michigan Technological University and it was the total opposite. I received my bachelor's in business administration management and marketing and then I left one peninsula to go to a totally different peninsula, and that's Miami, Florida, to obtain my master's degree in hospitality management where I thought I wanted to run hotels, only to discover that I only liked staying in them.
Needless to say, I never saw directions leading to a career in data science. I had no idea that I would land my dream job with the Carpentries after only applying three times for a position. So let the journey begin.
Are you going?
But I have one question for you. Are you going? So I don't know about you, but when someone asks me, are you going, I generally have a plethora of questions to ask them. Where are we going? How are we going to get there? How long is it going to take? Who's going? And what do I need to bring? And we all know that we can get a variety of questions from this, a variety of answers from this question, and that'll dictate how we'll respond and if we'll respond favorably or not.
Well, as your GPS, that's gentle push system, I want to ask you this question and give you a few perspectives that will hopefully encourage you to say yes. So here's the first ask. Are you going? Cher, I don't know where we're going, and I know, so I'm so glad you said that. Well, it's okay for us not to know exactly where we're going.
Have you ever gotten in the car and you just drove, not knowing where you were going to head, where you were headed, but ended up in a pretty good final destination? Think about a GPS. Even if you have the final exact destination, when you plug it in, you have no idea where you're going. You just follow the instructions. The roads may be unfamiliar to you, the highways are familiar, but you just drive and you get there.
When you're joining a new community such as data science, it can be very similar. Maybe you are starting your first career or you are switching careers. You're terrified because you don't know where you're going. You're not sure what lies ahead, and this was me when I entered into this field. At the time, I was in between jobs, and we know what that means. I was working odd and in jobs, but nothing that I wanted to pursue permanently or anything that was stable until someone, someone in this room, shared with me an opportunity about working with the Carpentries.
Now remember, y'all saw, my background was in business management and marketing and somewhat hospitality management. I Googled this organization, and I was like, what can I do in this techy, codey, like for real organization? And y'all, let me tell y'all a secret. In high school, I skipped the class for coding. I never went. So I knew this wasn't the job for me.
But needless to say, I did apply for a workshop administrator and I got the job. And let me tell you, I definitely thought that my GPS was supposed to reroute me or start all over because I did not feel like I belong. Mostly everyone on the team had doctorate degrees in things like oceanography, mechanical engineering, physiology, bioinformatics, come on now.
So you see, I definitely felt like I was driving down the wrong lane and waiting for further instructions to getting back on track with this business and hospitality degree. Your girl had extreme imposter syndrome. I mean, I really didn't think that I was good enough. I didn't know if I had the right background. I felt like I wasn't worthy to be on the team. And sometimes I questioned myself like, how did I really get this job? Did they really hire the right person?
And I would go into meetings and I would rarely speak. And as you can see, that's kind of huge for an extrovert like myself. I was afraid to say something that was stupid or something that wouldn't make sense or that would make me stand out in the crowd to make it seem as though I wasn't supposed to be there. I had no idea where I was going and how I fit in on this team.
But once I was on the team, I did gain a few GPSs, and that's gentle push system, who assured me that I was doing well and encouraged me to take on additional responsibility. And it was because of those conversations that I was able to try different things on the team, such as help support our first international conference, which was easy because I had years of experience doing that. However, leading a technical project, not so much. I gained so much experience learning how to share my vision with someone who I didn't know understood my jargon or me trying to talk to them in their jargon. Had I not listened to this GPS, I may still be a workshop administrator.
Had I not listened to this GPS, I may still be a workshop administrator.
I didn't know where my trajectory would lead me, but I'm glad I went. And it was okay that I didn't know where I was going.
How would you get there?
Now, so I've got to ask you again. Are you going? Cher, I don't know. But if I did, how would I get there? So another great question. I'm glad you asked. So let's go back to that GPS. The original one. And not the one we just learned about earlier. So when you put in a destination, have you ever noticed that there are options for you various ways for you to get to your destination? By car, by bus, by walking, shared rides, or sometimes even a boat. And sometimes it may require you to do a mixture of both, depending on where your beginning destination is compared to where you want to end. And the same can be true in our personal lives. We can have a goal in mind, an outcome, a set intention, and once we begin planning the pathway, we discover that there can be various ways for us to continue.
Do you remember your early introduction into programming? Were you overwhelmed? How did you decide which language you were going to use? Did you start with one language and then switch to another? Maybe you started with a proprietary language and then switched to an open source language, which we heard a question about earlier. Maybe you started with Python, then switched to R. Well, let me tell you, as I started with the Carpentries initially, I thought I was just going to come in and do some data entry and bounce.
However, as I started to, you know, really immerse myself, I wanted to understand the tools that were being offered. And so I started to explore various ways I could grow at the company and started thinking about how I could use the tools on my everyday work. I was totally surprised to see that I could use it for both my personal life and my professional life. And remind me to tell you a story about how one of our coworkers used it to help plan her wedding. Used GitHub to plan her wedding.
Now, I wanted to be able to recommend solutions and ideas with metrics behind it. But the thing was, I would have to ask someone to get me the data. And half the time, I didn't know what I really wanted. I didn't know what to ask for. I didn't know how I wanted the data to look when it came to me. And so I felt like I was being indecisive and I didn't want to ask them because I didn't want to waste their time. So let me tell you, I was kind of intimidated.
And this led me to decide, okay, Sha'Aaron, you got to figure this out. You need to figure out which language you're going to use. So my supervisor gave me a few tasks to use with Python. And it seemed to be okay, but I wasn't really meshing well with it. And so then another supervisor gave me a few things and introduced me to R to try to do a couple of tasks with that one. And I was like, okay, I think this might work a little bit better. And I discovered along the way that R was more suitable for my lifestyle. Now I understood the logic just a little bit more than Python, but not a whole lot. But enough for me to say, okay, this is the language I want to focus on.
And so then I began taking beginner courses with R and trying to identify different tasks that I could use daily to help me use R. So I was ecstatic and amazed at how much simpler decision making had become just by using this package. Now that I had the tools to help me, I was no longer guessing or developing theories to recommend future endeavors for the Carpentries Workshops, but I had some data to back it up.
Okay, Cher, nice story, but what does this really have to do with getting around? So remember, I said with a GPS, depending on your destination, you may have to take different models of transportation. So sometimes you may have to take a couple of ways of getting there. So as an early adopter, somewhat not really in my career of data science, I eventually discovered that I wanted to use coding to help me make decisions. But again, remember, I didn't know how to get there. So first I tried to use someone else's knowledge, hoping they would get me there. That's considered shared, a shared ride, Uber, right? However, I noticed that I was not, that was not the best option for me.
So I said, okay, let me try it myself. So I rode a bike a little bit, switching gears, it caused me to have to do some research. That's when I was, you know, switching gears. And then I even got on the bus a few times. I had to do a couple of transfers. That was me trying R and then Python, you know, and SQL, and none of those worked for me either. But then once I figured out that R was the one for me, I was able to get a bit more advanced and then I was able to drive to my destination, which was ultimately to be able to develop the code to provide data and metrics to help forecast and predict different trends. So even though I had to try a few different vehicles, I did get to my destination.
Getting the help you need
Now, I've given you a few reasons why you should say yes to going. So I have to ask you one more time, because we know third time's always a charm. So are you going? Now, maybe you're just a little apprehensive or a little concerned that you don't have everything you need to get there. Or maybe you're thinking, you know what, I want to go, Cher, I really do. But I need just a little bit of a push or tug or just a little bit of help. No worries, because guess what? I told you, I am your GPS. That's your gentle push system. So which means that I'm going to give you, I'm going to nudge you and give you the guide that you need to help you get to where you need to go.
So there have been many times when using the GPS, that's the original one, when you maybe have just, the GPS went offline, and now all of a sudden, you're like, it's not working properly. And tell me at that point, what did you do? Did you just say, oh, forget it? Did you throw your phone in frustration? Or maybe you just said, you know what, forget it, I'm not going, I'm going to stay put. Or maybe you said, you know what, let me just ask for some help or see what other programs are available. Maybe you didn't use the Apple version, which I don't know what an Apple map is, but maybe you used Waze or the Google Maps. So or maybe you said, you know what, let me ask for help and ask for exact directions. Or maybe you asked for an alternative solution. Either way, you did not just stop along on your journey. Or you didn't stop along your journey of trying to get to your destination. You asked for help to keep going.
About the Carpentries
So I realize I've been talking a little bit and haven't really told you about the Carpentries. And so let me tell you a little bit about the Carpentries and what we do and what I do. The Carpentries is a nonprofit organization. We teach novice scientists and researchers how to analyze data using open software such as R, Python, Git, SQL, Unix, Shell, just to name a few. And we've trained over 4,400 volunteer instructors to teach comprehensive live coding workshops all over the world. And to date, we've organized over 4,100 workshops, both in person and virtually, reaching nearly 98,000 learners.
Now, I'd like to consider us a GPS, that's a gentle push system, to anyone who was thinking about data science, is new to the field, switching fields, or even just want to explore something new. All of our curriculum is designed for you to be able to self-teach yourself. However, going to a workshop will allow you to get that guidance and get questions answered in real time. Many of the testimonials we've heard over the years was, I didn't know this existed. I wish I would have known about this during my PhD program. Your resources have helped me as I was starting my new career in data science. And I even met someone today who was just like, man, I just really wish I knew about this in my career. And that's always refreshing.
And so if you are someone who feels as though that you felt like that, or you're still needing that extra push as your GPS, this is my shameless plug to tell you you need to sign up for Carpentries workshops. If you have any questions or worries, I'll make sure you do. And there may be a Carpentries instructor somewhere in the room, or someone who I see. You can see anyone in the room about signing up for a Carpentries workshop.
You do not have to travel alone
So as you continue about your final destination and where you're going, I want you to remember that you do not have to travel alone. For me, had it not been for co-workers who were willing to be my GPS, that's Gentle Push system, and have many R sessions with me, or organizations like the Posit, who offered a two-month introduction to the Tidyverse last year, I could not, I would still be sitting around asking myself, am I going?
Today, after six years of being introduced to this field, I would somewhat consider myself a data scientist. I've used my GPS system to help me understand the direction and path that I want to take in the digital world, well, mostly. But with their help, I was able to go from a part-time workshop administrator to workshop manager to deputy director of workshops to now director of workshops of a team that initially I knew nothing about.
However, it didn't happen until I was able to answer yes to the question, are you going? Even when I didn't know where I was going, even when I had to try different ways of getting to that final destination, and even when I had to ask for help.
However, it didn't happen until I was able to answer yes to the question, are you going? Even when I didn't know where I was going, even when I had to try different ways of getting to that final destination, and even when I had to ask for help.
Now, there may be a few of you in here who have said, you know what, Cher, I figured it out, and I've already arrived, and that is amazing. So you may not need to be a GP, you may not need a GPS, but guess what? That means you could be a GPS. And please know that the Carpentries is a place for you, and if you have an interest in becoming an instructor, a trainer, a lesson developer, a lesson maintainer, or even have expertise and would like to share your expertise with our community, then guess what? The Carpentries welcome you. And as your GPS of this session, I encourage you to scan this barcode, and you can learn about various ways to get involved with the Carpentries and become your very own GPS.
Your journey may not look like the one you originally mapped out, mine sure didn't, but there may have been a few uncertainties along the way, however, you will never get there unless you take that first step.
Kirsten Hubbard stated, you can't control the past, but you can control where you go next. So now that you have been given a GPS to encourage you to say yes along your journey, all I need you to do is just go. However you decide to get there, or whatever method you decide to take, I ask you to take a step in that direction. And with that, I have one more question to ask you. Are you going? Thank you.