Celebrating life from finding my passion to two years working at an AI Startup!
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After passing 12th grade, I applied to some best universities for my bachelor's in Computer Science in India (IITs and NITs). Despite putting in a lot of hard work, I failed to get into one. My friends who got admitted were happy, and those who didn’t get admitted were sad. Interestingly, I was neither happy nor sad. At that moment, I realized that all this time, I was never passionate about getting into one, and failing didn’t affect me.
Discovery
Later, I joined Amrita University with one goal to search for what I am most passionate about in this world. I continuously tried many things at University. I attended CCNA training and quit in the middle. Traveled 2500 kilometers from the southern part to the northern part of India to participate in a PyCon (Python Conference) and met like-minded people. I chatted with many professors from different departments to understand different domains. I worked on a big data project for Cisco for a year and realized I was interested in exploring data. And finally worked in an NLP research lab and got excited about Data Science.
I slowly developed a strong passion for data science and wanted to learn more and make a career.
Life at USC
I pursued my master's in Data Science at USC, did a couple of NLP internships, and TAed Data Science courses. I started going to meetups and introducing myself as a budding Data Scientist around the streets of LA. I attended many AI conferences organized by ODSC - Open Data Science, IDEAS, and Re.Work to learn how AI is applied in the industry from experts. I got an opportunity to have lunch with Apple Siri Cofounder Adam Cheyer and listen to his take on life with incredible experiences. I had some bad experiences, like revoking my internship and full-time opportunities, but nothing has stopped me from pursuing data science. After graduating, I got a fellowship opportunity at Insight, where I proposed and built ProFit.AI.
First full-time job
Cognistx gave me my first full-time Data Scientist opportunity. I still remember how excited I was to finally become a Data Scientist after dreaming of becoming one for four long years. I suddenly felt what was next!
Working at a startup is challenging yet fun. You might get less support and mentorship because of limited resources. However, you get many opportunities to try new things, fail without worrying, and succeed in the end. The best part is owning your work, getting considered your views on critical company decisions, having friends like colleagues, and working in a fast-moving environment.
I worked on many projects in my first six months. I believed in the potential of a project, discussed it with the team, and further worked on it, which turned into SQUARE, one of the flagship products today. Fun fact: I networked with a person on an open-source platform and discussed SQUARE, who later became the product's biggest customer. Throughout the journey, our CEO and team had enormous faith in my ability, and I am very grateful. My company also promoted me to a Senior role and continued supporting me.
There are many things I am still figuring out and working on them, including managing a team, contributing to sales and marketing, and effort estimation, etc. But as I mentioned, with the help of the company and people, I have been trying different things, and some have already started working well and getting results.
5 Life Lessons Learnt In the Journey
- Live in Present. Thinking about the past can make you angry, and thinking about the future can get you worried. Instead, focus on the present and live the moment.
- Be grateful for life. About 10% of the world's population does not have enough food to live. Covid-19 proved that anything could happen. Practice gratitude and be happy with what you have!
- Talk to friends and family. UN recently stated that 1 out of 8 worldwide have some mental disorder. Mental health is everything. Don't keep anything in mind and get stressed. It is okay to burst stress to your go-to people and discuss issues.
- Stop comparing with others. We live in an unfair world. No one shares the same benefits and disadvantages. Many things are out of control. Focus on yourself - how you are better compared to yesterday than making limitless comparisons with others.
- Believe in Passion, Patience, and Persistence. Passion (purpose for motivation), Patience (in hard times), and Persistence (never stop).
