| Inspiring Glober Stories This article is part of our series of Inspiring Glober Stories. These are stories of people, who with passion, courage and creativity overcame obstacles, made their dreams come true, or helped change the world. We hope you enjoy it and find it inspiring! |
Hi, Belén! I am writing this letter to let you know that you have a long road ahead of you before you become a Data Scientist. It wasn’t easy. Let me tell you which moments were key in making you the happy professional you are today.
After years of study and a lot of effort, you are going to graduate as a psychologist. However, you will quickly realize that even though you deeply love that profession, you don’t want to pursue it. Becoming aware of this was pretty frustrating. But don’t worry! In the end, you’ll find out that psychology will help you in ways you cannot begin to imagine.
At the same time, you are going to start feeling more and more attracted to something unknown to you: technology. This will confuse you even more and will lead you to a new crisis: at the age of 30, you will feel that you undertook studies in a field that does not make you happy, and you will not know where to go. But remember you come from a family that always encouraged you to research and learn on your own. Remember that the first book your parents got you was “The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.” So, you will find out that researching new things and watching videos on artificial intelligence entertains you through the crisis.
It’s true, you will feel down for a while. But don’t worry, everything will fall into place. Those videos on artificial intelligence will go from a hobby to a dream you will want to pursue. You will begin to dream about programming a machine to learn, and the thrill of that feeling will take over you completely. The mere idea of the machine learning by itself, as if it were alive, will set your new course.
You will make good use of your psychology degree and you will apply to a Recruiter Analyst position at Globant. When you enter the building for your first interview, you will see a giant poster of a robot, and you will feel like that is the perfect place for the career shift you are so eagerly seeking. So, during the interview, you are going to tell your future manager that you are applying to become part of the Recruiting team only to have the chance to study artificial intelligence. And she will happily accept that. That is the first sign of support you got from the company.
Yes. Programming, mathematics, statistics. You are going to face that world. You always believed you were bad at math, but you got down to work and learnt things you thought you never would. Remember you once read that women are not good at math? Don’t worry, no one is going to make you feel that way. You are going to work nine hours a day at Recruiting and study artificial intelligence at night, and often during the weekends. You are going to feel that things are not going your way and that you don’t want to go on. Ah… frustration. Our old friend. Frustration and fear are going to come to visit you often. But you are brave, and you will keep going. Your friends from the Recruiting team are going to support you so that you don’t give up.
One year after joining Globant, you will start interacting with people from the Data & AI Studio. People you will admire. At first, you will be surprised by the confidence they have in you and how they encourage you to continue, almost without knowing you. You will soon become comfortable and make friends.
And when you feel the path is getting too rough, an expert in Artificial Intelligence will show up and become your Mentor. Trust him, he is going to teach you and guide you in each step of the way to see you grow. He will be a great support and a good friend.
ou may not imagine it now but thanks to Globant and all your effort, you are going to get a scholarship to study Data Analysis at Universidad de Córdoba. And one day you are going to take a very difficult technical exam, and you’re going to pass! That day is the day you become a Data Scientist at Globant.
You will learn many important lessons throughout the following years: there is no right age to pursue a new career, women are capable of doing and achieving anything we set our minds to, and you never stopped being a psychologist, you simply expanded your profile.
Thank you for the sleepless nights you spent studying, they became key moments of my life. Thank you for the colleagues you chose, without them I could not have achieve this much. And finally, thank you for being brave and not giving up. I am here today because you kept going.
With all my love,
your future self.
