There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
- Mark Twain (popularized)
I've wanted to get a graduate degree since forever - even before I finished my bachelor's degree. But when I graduated with my BS in physics, the only thing I was pretty sure about was that I didn't want to study physics anymore. I was feeling pretty burned out, especially on so much math. I did apply to and get accepted to various MS programs in various fields over the years but never pulled the trigger on any of them.
In August I started an online MS program through the University of Colorado, Boulder in Data Science. When I finished undergrad studies, many years ago, data science wasn't even a thing I knew about. It combines statistics and computer science to make sense of data. Some of my favorite projects when I worked in aerospace (also a long time ago) either involved coding or data analysis. Even in college I was really interested in mathematical modeling to solve different problems, but I wasn't quite sure where to go from there. And I didn't want to look at any terrible math problems for a while.
As of now, I've completed my first class, which was in probability and have started my second class in statistical inference. The math is on the hard side, but its not differential equations hard (that's one of the harder math classes required for physics and engineering). And a lot of the concepts I'm already familiar with from undergrad (I took six semesters of math for the physics degree - some things are kind of rusty, but most of it is coming right back). I was excited when I got to do a multivariable integral (me: oh!! I know how to do this! and why and what it means!! everyone else: no one cares). And I hear there will be some linear algebra to come, so I will need to dust off that knowledge at some point.
What I find really challenging about this class is that the abstraction level is pretty high. If you can accurately set up the equation you want, you're 90% there, but good luck with that first part. And my brain feels not quite as sharp as once it was. I feel like I'm squinting into the void a lot to try and make sense of the hard concepts. But I am really enjoying my classes so far.
This was from the first unit of the probability class - one of the very first homework assignments where I had to analytically solve a non-intuitive probability problem and then verify and plot my results in R, a programming language that I don't know well. I was super excited when I got my data to plot correctly. It's the little things. This was probably only 15 lines of code, but it was a big deal to me.
Down a math rabbit hole
I'm finding it challenging to switch between being deep in a probability problem to making someone a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Like a kid asks me for something and I have to back way out of the abstraction/math tunnel that I'm in and access different brain parts. Maybe all the stretching will be good for my brain. Or maybe I'm headed for a nervous breakdown.
So many formulas!!
I took the final for my first class last week. I was pretty nervous. Our final was closed note, which I guess makes sense, but there were 50+ formulas we used throughout the course and I suddenly learned (a week out from the final) that I had to have them memorized. All our tests and quizzes leading up to it were open note. Memorizing formulas was not a thing we did in physics. We were usually given a sheet of formulas (forumlae?) for tests because the hard part is knowing how to use the formula, not memorizing it. And in statistics there are so many formulas!! So based on the sheer volume of formulas we used, I assumed (wrongly) we could either use our notes or would have some sort of sheet of formulas provided. But not so much. I also found out the week prior that we couldn't use calculators but had to do all our calculating (of which there was a lot) in R in a Jupyter notebook. I wasn't as familiar with all the calculator functions on there (like you have to enter in the correct R syntax different calculator functions, like e raised to a power or factorial function etc.) so I had to learn and practice those. But it was pretty nice and easy after I learned. And I studied the whole week prior to memorize the 50ish formulas. Again, I feel like my brain is a little rusty, but I was able to successfully memorize them. I was so stressed for the final, which was online proctored, another new thing for me. I had two hours to complete it and a proctor watching me through my computer camera. I was even able to resubmit my answers within the two hours, which was nice (we are not able to to do that on future finals - just a first class perk). I got an 80% on the first pass. And was able to fix two of my mistakes to get up to 93% with a half hour to go. I couldn't figure the last one out in time. But then I figured out my mistake about 15 minutes after completing the test. Even with the scary final I ended up with an A in the class. Hooray!
Also I realized how annoying it is to not have a 10 key on my laptop, so Scott talked me into getting a new keyboard with a 10 key, for all my school work. It is so much nicer than going back and forth across the top row to enter numbers. You can see the new set up above - please ignore the mess in the background.
I am really enjoying data science so far - I like the "mathiness" but also applying all that math to solve a data problem - but the work is tough, the concepts are confusing and I have been feeling a lot of anxiety about the whole thing. I'd already been feeling pretty burned out on cooking dinner (somehow covid stuff made this worse) but with my new school work stress I am really hating making dinner every night. I love stopping what I'm doing to help someone with homework but am really struggling with getting dinner made. Maybe it also has to do with switching/using a different part of my brain than my homework requires. Anyway, I keep googling "easy dinner recipes" and buying lots of convenience dinner things at Costco, but both results are pretty disappointing. Anyone have any really easy dinner recipes? Or a favorite Costco dinner idea? Send them my way!
