Going after my dreams!!
How I decided to become a Data Scientist.
My life has been always around numbers and especially around Computer Science. I was first in school in math and physics and I was always trying to be the number one student at the University. I studied my Bachelor in Computer Science in Armenia. Unfortunately, due to the economic situation and fewer IT jobs at that time, I was forced to study 2nd major in Finance to be safe in terms of jobs. I got majors in Computer Science and Finance. I tried my career in banking for a short time and then slowly moved back to IT once I found some job openings. Telling the truth I would see myself more into IT !!!
After finishing my studies I was supposed to continue my masters either in the same University or somewhere else. Due to family situations, I decided to work and do my Masters at the same time. That was the only way to be able to pay for my tuition. I heard about American University which was accredited by the University of California and found that they offer a part-time MBA. The only big problem was that I didn’t know a word of English. But that didn’t make me afraid and I set up a goal to study the language. Soon after a few months of hard work, I passed GMAT and TOEFL successfully and was enrolled as an MBA student.
It was a really big change in my life. This was a totally different atmosphere and way of study. I noticed that the majority of my friends were going towards becoming an auditor and I also went for it. I applied for a big 4 companies and got offers with them. But on the other side, my job was paying me much more than I would get from an internship as a beginner auditor and that is why I was not in a rush to change my job. After some time I decided that maybe taking an internship or contract opportunity abroad will be a better idea. I was constantly looking for internships abroad and after a few months of research and talking to different people abroad I met a new friend who was helping me a lot and guess what. This friend is my husband now(lol). So instead of an internship, I got married and OMG within 6 months I was in some other country. I would never imagine that I will go far from my home or that I will marry somebody from different nationality. It happened so fast that I didn’t get a chance to think. And I am here in the US!!!
I was very excited about my new place. I started helping a few startups, doing some freelancing and at the same time, life was going ahead. Three years past I have two toddlers and I am really busy. Kids changed me a lot. I became a more responsible and mature person. It’s crazy but I didn’t want to stay housewife and I want my kids to be proud of their mom. Nothing comes easy we just have to work for it.
A few months ago I heard from my classmate who graduated from Lambda school in the LA and found a job as a web developer. That was something new for me. So I went online and researched about it, I saw that classes can be done online and said why not to try. I am a busy mom of two and this looked a perfect fit for me. My husband suggested to take data science instead of web development since my interest and love with numbers and statistics is way more and he noticed it. I went forward and sent my application and went ahead with precourse assignments. After finishing precourse and waiting another few weeks I received a letter where they said that I can’t be enrolled since I moved from DC to Austin and they don’t accept students from TX. I was so angry and disappointed that I wasted 2 months waiting but I didn’t give up. I started to search for similar Bootcamp programs. I came across the Flatiron and here I am. I love their team and how fast they respond. Another 8 months and I will get the knowledge I need to be a good data scientist. Isn't it exciting?
