Prior to my experience at Florida State University, I took a few research classes in high school. In these classes, I had assignments where I would have to collect and analyze data as part of a research project. These experiences sparked my interest in data science, and from that point forward I always knew that I was interested in data-related research. Furthermore, I have always been interested in a few different subjects, including computer science, biology, and mathematics. I never realized that I would be able to combine my interests before starting this data fellowship.
When I first found this fellowship during the summer of 2022, I felt that I was at an academic crossroads. I was unsure of what I wanted to study and my career goals. However, I was extremely interested in this opportunity, because it was unlike anything I had ever really known about. I thought that this position would be a great learning opportunity for me, and would hopefully allow me to utilize my data skills and pursue some of my interests. So far, this fellowship has gone above and beyond what I was hoping for.
As I am still in the beginning of my academic career, I have not had the opportunity to obtain much experience using my data skills before this fellowship. For this reason, I am so grateful to be participating in this fellowship. I have already learned so many different things in my few months here. One of my first assignments was to meet with many of the different librarians at FSU Libraries. I really enjoyed this task, because I liked hearing about all of the different paths that were taken until finding this career. It introduced me to a lot of different projects and areas of expertise in the library that I had never known about, such as the Health Data Sciences Initiative and open science.
Another concept that I have recently learned a lot about is the importance of critically evaluating data. Working on a blog post about this topic has been a great learning experience for me. It has introduced me to so many ideas that I had never known about. Specifically, I have learned about machine learning algorithms for data science. As a student currently pursuing a computer science degree with a minor in data analytics, this topic was extremely interesting to me, and is something that I am excited to explore further.
As I take more classes related to my major, I am excited to apply the skills I learn towards this fellowship. In the future I hope to teach workshops about Unix, C#, SQL, and many more. I am looking forward to continuing my work with the FSU Libraries.
This blog post was written by Reagan Bourne, STEM Data Fellow at FSU Libraries.