I am a Mechanical Engineer with 10 years of experience. Till 2016 I worked with Cummins Turbocharger division. In 2016, I had to take a career break to manage my twins. I was exploring different options to join the back workforce, which would align with my interest as well. With lockdown, work from home became a new norm. I sensed an opportunity that women like me could get to work from home so that they could have a successful career and manage their families. I started learning Python from online resources. It took me some time, but I enjoyed doing programming.
Since I knew bits and pieces of Python, we had a requirement coming through for a Ph.D. student. It was a medical project for lung oscillometry. The data had to be thoroughly analyzed, and an equation along with ranges had to be defined. It was really challenging for me as I didn’t know anything about regression analysis or which algorithm to be used. I read a lot of things on the internet, but there was no proper guidance. With hours and hours of study and work, I somehow managed to get the results and satisfy the project requirements. But in the process, I got addicted to gaining more knowledge on data science and getting a formal degree in it. The challenge wired me up so much that there was no looking back.
I had heard a great deal about Great Learning, and a few years back, I had gone through the brochure for data science which my husband was planning to do. He couldn’t manage to do it, but my brother-in-law had a very good experience with Great Learning, and he referred me.
Yes, I was a bit worried if my queries and my concerns would be addressed on an online platform. I thought videos would be shared with little emphasis on interaction and doubt clearing, which was soon proved wrong. Mentored sessions were the most important part of my learning journey. I would say the mentor played a big role. From answering our silly questions to teaching us all critical stuff, he was fully present throughout all steps of the journey. With their own professional jobs and this additional teaching responsibility, he did a remarkable job. Mentors were technically sound and had a lot of industrial experience as well. Apart from the scheduled sessions, they were very open to communication, clearing doubts anytime, and addressing questions with respect to projects or any data science-related topic.
Sessions were interactive as well as informative. Lots of discussions happened in our group, which led to more thinking & more learning.
From these newly learned skill sets, I believe a new “ME” confident and ready to rejoin the workforce again and start my career. At times it feels difficult, and you would feel like giving up. But patience and daily discipline will help you to achieve your dreams. Think of a long-term goal. Learning a new thing initially is difficult, but persuasion & persistence helps. Start with small goals, take one step at a time, and eventually, you will be very near to your goal. Remember, you just have to take one step at a time.
