How I ended up (working) in DATA
I had no clue this was where life would lead me
Truth be told, I didn’t want to work in the data field “when I grew up”. I didn’t want to work with computers “when I grew up”.
Well, to be fair, when I was growing up, we didn’t have any computers and hence didn’t have much data to work with — except for “data” I wrote in my physical notebooks.
But life works in mysterious and interesting ways. Detour after detour, here I am. Working in the data field. And I couldn’t be happier — because I feel like I belong.
I didn’t want to hike mountains for a living
Let me lay out a couple of ironies in my life.
I don’t like the cold. Yet I live in a cold place. I guess you can argue that British Columbia, Canada is probably the warmest place in Canada.
I also don’t like hiking mountains. Yet I took Geology in university, which meant I had to do a lot of mountain hiking.
When we immigrated to Canada, I naively thought I could just finish my degree in Geology at a local university. After all, I just had one more semester to go. However, life handed me two simultaneous lemons — cold + hiking. Finishing my studies would involve me hiking up mountains here in Canada in all seasons — majority of which is winter.
I vividly remember my first (and last) field work during my naive pursuit to complete this degree. This happened in January, one of the coldest months of the year, and it involved hiking a few mountains. Needless to say, I was traumatized.
As soon as our field work was done, I went to the administrations office at my university, dropped all my Geology courses, and took an MIS (Management Information Systems) course instead. I specifically looked for a course that didn’t mention hiking nor mountains.
Computer vs Donabel: Computer 1, Donabel 0
Here’s the thing. I didn’t realize that MIS is almost equivalent to taking “computer” courses. You have to use statistics applications, Excel.
Let me mention the third irony (or lemon) in my life: I didn’t like computers either. Perhaps it was because I did not grow up with a computer. I always thought it was this frightful, scary box. However, given my dire situation having just dropped all my courses, I knew I just needed to suck it up.
I had a lot of moments while taking this course. I felt so lost. I remember going home one time crying because I JUST CANNOT wrap my head around whatever exercises we did that day. Put some data here, some numbers appear elsewhere. There was some alien language I had to type. I just didn’t get it. To me, it was some kind of witchcraft or wizardry that was out of this world.
I think I managed to pass that course, but I didn’t really get it. I don’t remember a thing from that class (except for the feelings of being lost and scared and unsure). But I wanted to get it. I wanted to do it right. So I researched and asked around.
Computer vs Donabel — Rejected again
Apparently there is this local institution that prepares students with “job-ready skills”, and employers look specifically for its grads. This institution is called British Columbia Institute of Technology, or BCIT. They happen to have a strong computer and programming program. I figured this is my opportunity to start over, and to do it right this time.
I applied. Unfortunately, I was rejected because I was not qualified. I didn’t have the programming background they required that apparently is part of the Canadian high school curriculum.
This time though, I was determined to not give up. In a way, I think I was starting to re-discover myself. (Full credit to my mom who also made sure I didn’t forget who I was). I wasn’t a quitter. They can reject me, but I will keep on trying. I can’t let that computer beat me again.
I went to another local college and did a computer programming diploma that meets BCIT’s pre-requisite. I was very fortunate to have an instructor who was so passionate about programming. She taught with gusto. She taught with stories. She taught us while looking at us in the eye — making sure we were getting it. This was a different experience for me, and I surprisingly ended up really enjoying programming.
After I completed this diploma, I re-applied to BCIT. This time, I got accepted. However, even with the pre-requisite programming diploma under my belt, BCIT still proved to be very tough (for me): 7–8 courses per term; all assignments, exams, projects due at the same time; so many new things to learn and master.
Slowly, albeit sometimes painfully, I saw glimmers of a road being paved… a road that might be mine to take. This time, I didn’t just barely make it. I graduated BCIT with honors.
Right now, I want to hug my younger self and tell her “Well done for hanging in there. There were tough moments, but I am glad you didn’t quit”.
The “rejected” gets to teach
Going to BCIT was one of the best decisions I made. I feel like my life’s trajectory would have been very different if I didn’t go to BCIT.
First, I got the chance to work with Elsie. Elsie was the program head for the Database Option at that time, and she is the one who introduced me to all things databases. She talked about SQL, relational databases, ORDBMSs. I always waited for our next chats and her next stories about her data adventures.
Second, BCIT gave me the chance to teach. I started teaching (as a TA) even before I graduated. Eventually they offered me my own courses to design, develop and teach. I have been doing it since.
Initially, I taught because I need a contract. I had student loans to repay. But deep down, I must have known I wanted to teach.
Teaching has been such a big part of my life. I don’t teach full time. I teach only weeknights or weekends for part time programs. I liked this concept because what I learn when I work during the day, I get to teach at night. What I learn preparing and teaching my classes, I get to use for my work. It’s a mutually beneficial proposition.
My students in these part time courses are mostly working professionals who are either reskilling or upskilling. Most of the time, they’re there because they want to be there. They have a mission, and this course helps them get there.
Teaching to me isn’t just about teaching the technical stuff. I’ve had teachers in the past who treated me as just another number in their class, who couldn’t care less if I got it or not. I do not want to be that kind of teacher.
Teaching to me is about life, about hope, about people.
To me it is about meeting students, getting to know them, understanding their journeys, and figuring out how these classes can help them in their jobs, in their lives.
The data connection
Initially I taught different technical scripting and programming courses — C++, Delphi, VB, HTML/CSS.
But I realized, I enjoy working with data more. I get a certain high when I can pull data that is needed by the business, and present it in a way that makes sense or explains what’s happening. Working with data has allowed me to talk to senior managers and directors, because I can help explain numbers, anomalies. I feel like a data detective. I like solving puzzles.
So I’ve started to niche my teaching, my projects, and my work to anything that’s data-related. For a number of years I focused on teaching databases/data warehouses with MySQL and SQL Server. I became quite active in the SQL Server community, and hence my “other name” sqlbelle was born. Many acquaintances in the community knew me by this name, so it felt like a natural extension of myself.
And the (data) adventure continues …
I continue to be fascinated with data. Data — its form, its prevalence, its significance, its role in the current world — has evolved. There is still so much to learn, so much to understand. So I continue dancing with it. I learn as I go, and I teach as I go.
In the grand scheme of things, I know nothing. But somewhere deep inside me, I feel a sense of fulfillment when I — even for a small blip of time — made sense of the data, and it helped make a difference.
This is a MUCH updated version of an article I wrote back in 2010. The original article is posted in my blog sqlbelle.com https://sqlbelle.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/how-i-got-here/
