PreText to “My Data Science Story”
Who Is this guy?
print(Patrick)['Intelligent', 'adaptable', 'analytical', 'confident … but not cocky', 'driven', 'dynamic', 'genuine', 'inquisitive', 'resourceful']
These some terms to describe me but are in no way all-inclusive. I was born in New Jersey, but as the son of an oil and gas ex-pat I have lived in many places throughout the world and traveled to many more. These experiences have shape who I am as a person, and have made me an extremely dynamic and adaptable person in both my personal and professional lives.
print(patrick_notable_locations){'homes': ['Saudi Arabia', 'Italy', 'Texas'], 'travels': ['Greece', 'Egypt', 'Turkey', 'Jordan', 'Bahrain', 'Austria', 'Switzerland']}
I went to college in Texas and obtained a BBA in Finance at the University of Houston, and a JD from the South Texas College of Law. My career has spanned a few different fields, most notably energy trading and real estate.
Why Data Science?
Coming from a financial and legal background, I have seen first-hand that many decisions, especially C-suite decisions, are based on observations pulled from data analysis and modeling. As an energy trader, before I even knew anything about what data science was or what it could do, I racked my brain with ways I could help make faster, more educated trades. I was constantly analyzing market data, supply and demand, natural gas prices and heat rates, locational day-ahead and real-time price spreads, weather forecasts, and transmission line congestion. We made heavy use of excel and I discovered I could create tools that would help me see market data in real time at the push of a button. I taught myself how to use macros and created tools to model power generation ramps (up and down), load graphs, and other data metrics. I lived in the data, and in my second year I led my desk in PnL… no small feat.
I was young and set on chasing whimsies. I am the type of person that is obsessed with constant learning and leveling up my skill set, so I went on to go to law school. After law school I entered the real estate field and held many roles. I paid close attention to people who were extremely successful and they all had one thing in common; they were adept at using market data to make profitable decisions. Acquiring the right data and knowing how to analyze it to make the right decisions was helping them accumulate massive wealth. Recently I read a statistic that said 90% of the wealth accumulated by people (using some metric of net worth) was made through real estate… Interesting!
The legal field itself has been transformed by data as well. Long gone are the days of having to retain an attorney for simple legal tasks. Much to the chagrin of newly minted law grads, most legal matters (outside of criminal defense) are now available for individuals to do themselves through online resources like Legal Zoom and other online legal document repositories. Services are becoming automated and fee-based.
Not long ago I realized that most tech companies, e.g., FAANG, Twitter, etc… are all just data companies. They accumulate data and make business decisions based on its analysis: what products and features to create, what and where to advertise, etc… Data is the new currency!
I am a highly analytical and inquisitive person. I over-analyze every decision I make. I am also a perfectionist. Where these characteristics have been weaknesses in other areas of my career, I am seeking ways I can turn them into my strengths. Data Science provides the perfect avenue to prove them to be assets. I am obsessed with learning to program, learning to train models, and make data-driven decisions to profit in my own life, as well as start a successful career doing the same for a company. I am leaning more towards working for a startup, or small company with growth ambition.
It Starts…
I have been toying with the idea of changing careers and pursuing my passions for a while. I taught myself base Python, up to an intermediate level. I started a data analytics certification on Coursera; however, it was self-paced, and life seemed to keep getting in the way of me moving along in the course. I needed something that would force me to commit and be held accountable. So, I decided to make the leap. I have a few close friends (and a twin brother) who have attended boot camps with mixed reviews. Some have become successful; others are working in other fields. It was impossible to decide based on their advice, so I committed to it on my own desire. I looked at several schools and settled on two: Flatiron or General Assembly. Both provided what I was looking for. I connected more with the Flatiron curriculum, and I felt better about the career services that they offered over GA’s. I am now enrolled in the Data Science program @ Flatiron and losing more sleep than I ever have in my life. I’ll keep you posted!
