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WiDSTORY | April 4, 2024

A High School Senior’s Exploration of Data Science with the WiDS Datathon

Tell us about your background.

I’m a high school senior from Granville, a small village in Ohio. I go to Granville High School and will be graduating this May. I’ve taken a few data science related courses such as AP Computer Science Principles, AP Statistics, and Coursera’s Google Data Analytics course.

How did you get interested in data science?

I first became interested in data science when I was researching future careers that I’d be interested in pursuing to respond to college supplementals. I knew I wanted to continue studying languages like Spanish and Mandarin and that I would be pursuing a computer science related degree. So, I looked up jobs that would allow me to combine both of those areas and landed on computational linguistics.

From there, I decided to explore more about data science and data analytics to see if computational linguistics would be a good fit for me. Through the BobaTalks High School server that I joined in February, I was able to receive a Google Grow scholarship. This scholarship enabled me to take Coursera’s Google Data Analytics course for free. From there my interest in data science has grown and I hope to expand my knowledge even more in college.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently taking Coursera’s Google Advanced Data Analytics course to further develop and improve my data analytics and data science skill sets. I’ve also been preparing for the upcoming second WiDS Datathon Challenge of 2024. I’m working on tweaking the model I made for the first challenge to increase its accuracy and complexity.

How did you you first discover WiDS?

I first discovered WiDS through a computer science opportunities oriented Discord server. Someone in the “women-in-tech” channel of the server sent a message about the WiDS Conference and Datathon challenges in early February. I saw it while reading through past messages and decided to give the Datathon a try since I’d recently started taking a Coursera course on Data Analytics basics.

Have you been involved with WiDS since that first experience? If so, in what way?

I’ve been involved in WiDS since that first discovery through the first Datathon challenge that recently wrapped up. I entered the competition excited to get a chance to apply the methods and code I’d been learning so it was a surprise when I got an email about winning the Top High School team award. Since then,  I presented virtually at the last WiDS Wednesday Upskill Workshop in March. I plan to continue attending the WiDS Wednesday Upskill Workshops and the Datathon Workshops to keep improving my understanding of data science. I’m also looking forward to participating in the second WiDS Datathon challenge that launches soon.

How has WiDS made an impact on your life and/or work?

WiDS has made pursuing data science as a career option seem much more feasible for me than before. Participating in the recent Datathon helped me feel more confident in my ability to train models to analyze datasets using Python. I’ve learned a lot of new skills and gained valuable connections with others who are also interested in data science. Joining the WiDS community has made a tremendously positive impact on my life and I’m grateful for all the opportunities that WiDS Worldwide has to offer.

What comes next for you? And what are your hopes for women in data science in the future?

I’m going to try and pursue a minor in data science or data analysis alongside my Computer Information Science major at the Ohio State University – Main Campus next school year. I hope that more women get the opportunity to explore the possibilities that data science has to offer and all the career paths data science can lead to. I also hope for a future where there are more organizations like WiDS which will foster inclusive environments empowering women from diverse backgrounds to delve into the realm of data science with comfort and confidence.

Connect with Maggie Gu.

Learn more about the WiDS 2024 Datathon, and sign up to participate.

​Women in Data Science (WiDS) Worldwide empowers women to reach their full potential in the field of data science.