Darya, March 20, 2020 | 2 min read

To Data Engineering and Beyond

I chose to start learning software development as I plan to switch my career to data engineering. Currently, I am a Materials Engineer, and I love my job. But for the longest time, I have wanted to learn how to code and turn it into a career. This year, I will be moving to New York, and I figured, what better time than now? So after researching some bootcamps in the area, I decided to join Tech Talent South for their afternoon classes, so I would be able to continue working at my full-time job. 

My first TTS course was Big Data Analytics. Going into this class, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Having a background in engineering, working with data has always been a significant part of my job. So approaching this from the coding side was very interesting to me. Our instructor was a Data Scientist, and was very passionate about his work. This made the course so much more interesting; it was more than just learning how to code, but also understanding the capabilities of big data analytics. I took back everything I learned in this class to my current job. I have been able to analyze large datasets and visualize information that would be difficult to do with Excel. I am still so fascinated that I was able to use Machine Learning code so easily, when just a few years ago the concept of artificial intelligence was such a novel subject. 

I joined Tech Talent South for one more course, JavaScript for App Development. This was a much longer course and covered a variety of topics. After learning how to use software to analyze data, I wanted to understand how full stack development worked so that I could use these skills together. Before the JavaScript class, I had some trouble understanding how certain functions worked together to create an end product. There are so many different apps, programs, and API’s available, that it was a little overwhelming to try and learn on my own. This course definitely helped with that. After learning all the functionalities and capabilities of JavaScript and application development technologies, I have no doubt that I can create an app on my own. In fact, I am currently working on making a website for my photography! 

I’m so grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to learn these skills while being able to work full-time. I will continue to strengthen these skills, and hopefully find a job in the field sometime soon!