Hi to everyone and anyone reading.
TL;DR -> Need good sources to learn Data Science and Machine Learning for a total novice
I'm making this thread to get another perspective for the course charted and things to watch out for while I make way. Fell free to comment and critique, that's why I'm making this thread.
I did my Bachelors from Kurukshetra University in Information technology back in 2009. Then I did my Masters in Software Systems from BITS, Pilani. As a part of Internship programme, I did a 6 month stint in Navteq in Mumbai. They offered me a job but I didn't join and went for Civil's prep full time in 2013. From '13 to '19, I kept crashing and burning in the exam. Finally after exhausting all the attempts, I moved back home. Due to lockdown and consequent slowdown, I've been at home since January 2020.
While preparing for Civils, I did manage to get some Grade-B and C offers but didn't take up on any. As by the end of the prep phase I had a pretty good expertise in the area of Policy Research and Analysis, especially in the field of International Relations and Strategic Security, I applied for an internship position in IDSA in Delhi. Got an acceptance offer from there for the role of Strategic Technologies Analyst but didn't join partly due to Covid and partly due to the fact that by that time I had become fixated on the idea that the presumptive wage loss I have had in last 7 years can be bridged faster if I move to a domain and area where wages are more. Thus I applied for a 1 year program in Machine Learning and Security in University of Waikato in New Zealand. They were the ones to make R language and their Weka Explorer, a ML tool, was being used in BITS back in 2010. Plus I have family living almost a block over from University so it was most "Economical" choice.
So right now I'm at a juncture where what I'm qualified to do, I have no experience in and what I have experience in, I have no qualification for it. Since coming back home, I have been trying my hand at learning ML/Data Science myself but haven't had much progress or luck with it. I never had a passion for coding even in my college days. For me it was a necessary evil. With almost 7 years of without writing even a single line of code, I can't code for $h!t. Did Javascript tutorial course from Khan Academy, tried a bit of Python too but left it in the middle. Bought Raspberry Pi just to reacquaint myself with Linux environment and tinker with it and Python on it. It's been a slow crawl to say the least.
On ML/DS front, after 3rd or 4th lecture of Andrew Ng on Coursera, things stopped making sense to me and felt like a Dyslexic kid from Taare Zameen Pe.
Went back to Khan Academy to "learn Maths". Complex numbers were easy but Vector algebra started bouncing off the scalp after a few lectures. Found Online source such as Kaggle geared more towards experienced professionals.
So now with almost 3 months to go for March intake, I'm second guessing if Data Science is even the right way to go.
It's not that I don't like Computers. Been messing with them since schooldays. Even now configuring and running and troubleshooting on Pi had been fun for me but Coding and Maths have also been bane of my existence. Whenever it came to any kind of exam or test, where I failed in Maths, I made up for it with excellent performance in English and Logical Reasoning. So if you have read my ramblings this far, I humbly ask you to nudge me in the right direction for learning ML/DS so that gradient of my journey is reduced when I begin the climb officially.
TL;DR -> Need good sources to learn Data Science and Machine Learning for a total novice
I'm making this thread to get another perspective for the course charted and things to watch out for while I make way. Fell free to comment and critique, that's why I'm making this thread.
I did my Bachelors from Kurukshetra University in Information technology back in 2009. Then I did my Masters in Software Systems from BITS, Pilani. As a part of Internship programme, I did a 6 month stint in Navteq in Mumbai. They offered me a job but I didn't join and went for Civil's prep full time in 2013. From '13 to '19, I kept crashing and burning in the exam. Finally after exhausting all the attempts, I moved back home. Due to lockdown and consequent slowdown, I've been at home since January 2020.
While preparing for Civils, I did manage to get some Grade-B and C offers but didn't take up on any. As by the end of the prep phase I had a pretty good expertise in the area of Policy Research and Analysis, especially in the field of International Relations and Strategic Security, I applied for an internship position in IDSA in Delhi. Got an acceptance offer from there for the role of Strategic Technologies Analyst but didn't join partly due to Covid and partly due to the fact that by that time I had become fixated on the idea that the presumptive wage loss I have had in last 7 years can be bridged faster if I move to a domain and area where wages are more. Thus I applied for a 1 year program in Machine Learning and Security in University of Waikato in New Zealand. They were the ones to make R language and their Weka Explorer, a ML tool, was being used in BITS back in 2010. Plus I have family living almost a block over from University so it was most "Economical" choice.
So right now I'm at a juncture where what I'm qualified to do, I have no experience in and what I have experience in, I have no qualification for it. Since coming back home, I have been trying my hand at learning ML/Data Science myself but haven't had much progress or luck with it. I never had a passion for coding even in my college days. For me it was a necessary evil. With almost 7 years of without writing even a single line of code, I can't code for $h!t. Did Javascript tutorial course from Khan Academy, tried a bit of Python too but left it in the middle. Bought Raspberry Pi just to reacquaint myself with Linux environment and tinker with it and Python on it. It's been a slow crawl to say the least.
On ML/DS front, after 3rd or 4th lecture of Andrew Ng on Coursera, things stopped making sense to me and felt like a Dyslexic kid from Taare Zameen Pe.
Went back to Khan Academy to "learn Maths". Complex numbers were easy but Vector algebra started bouncing off the scalp after a few lectures. Found Online source such as Kaggle geared more towards experienced professionals.
So now with almost 3 months to go for March intake, I'm second guessing if Data Science is even the right way to go.
It's not that I don't like Computers. Been messing with them since schooldays. Even now configuring and running and troubleshooting on Pi had been fun for me but Coding and Maths have also been bane of my existence. Whenever it came to any kind of exam or test, where I failed in Maths, I made up for it with excellent performance in English and Logical Reasoning. So if you have read my ramblings this far, I humbly ask you to nudge me in the right direction for learning ML/DS so that gradient of my journey is reduced when I begin the climb officially.