Hello everyone,

I’m Carlotta, one of the 17 bootcampers enrolled in this fall’s intake. I have an academic background in business administration and development studies, so I’ve had the chance to gain insights into the private and public sectors over the last few years. Data analytics has always been what has most sparked my interest and fascinated me. I’m convinced that, no matter the industry and regardless of whether it’s part of the private or public sector, data is what ultimately runs the world. Being able to leverage the vast amount of data available today and to use any insights gained for a positive change, is what motivated me to sign up for the Bootcamp.
And it’s been a decision that I haven’t regretted in the slightest.

Five weeks have passed since the day we all started this wild data journey together, and I’m astonished by the progress we’ve made in that time. Data analysis, visualization, acquisition and machine learning; none of these are strangers to us any longer. We even enjoy our own in-group coding jokes now! If that’s not an indication of our growing data science skills, I don’t know what is. However, the journey hasn’t only been about the laughs—it’s been quite exhausting at times.

The realization, especially during the last week, that demo day isn’t some abstract concept in a distant future, but very real and fast approaching, began to affect our working routine. Now, not only did we have to survive a math and stats exam—both of which are feared by many—but we were also introduced to time series and data visualization, as well as having to make substantial progress on our capstone project. Yes, that is as intense as it sounds. But achievements like performing an insightful analysis on a dataset that would have been impossible to even open the week before, is what makes all the work very much worth it.

That said, the fact that more than half of my time at Bootcamp has already passed both surprises and saddens me. I’m determined to make the most of the time with my lovely fellow bootcampers, discovering together what the next five weeks have in store for us. Considering that our learning curve is most likely exponential, I am more than excited for what’s to come.