First student graduates from the new Data Analysis Techdegree: En-Wei’s story

En-Wei has graduated from the Data Analysis Techdegree, making history as the first Data Analysis Techdegree graduate at Treehouse!

If you’re interested in Data Analysis and Data Science, definitely check out the Data Analysis Techdegree page. 

The program walks you through how to transform data using Google Sheets, CSV files, SQLite, JupyterLab, and Python’s SQLAlchemy. You also get to apply various Python libraries such as Pandas, Matplotlib, and Seaborn to make great graphs and data visualizations. 

The Data Analysis Techdegree is a course that looks at high-level data transformation using tools such as Google Sheets, but also dives deep into how to handle data with Python and other tools.

The program is fully remote, so you don’t need to worry about how to get access to the content. Just sign up and start studying!

Let’s dive into En-Wei’s story, why he chose the Data Analysis Techdegree, and where he’s headed next!

En-Wei is headed for a career in data science

En-Wei was motivated to take the Data Analysis Tech Degree because he is interested in moving towards data science as a career. 

It can be difficult to define what data science and data analysis are because it varies a lot from industry to industry. When En-Wei was hunting for education in the data science space, he struggled to find a curriculum that would be applicable to a broad range of industries.

Fortunately, the Treehouse Data Analysis Tech Degree fits the requirements exactly.  

What’s great about the Data Analysis Techdegree is that it covers all of the fundamentals of data transformation. This foundation is applicable to everything, not only data science jobs.

For example, learning how to do pivot tables and transform data on Google Sheets is going to apply to every job where you need to handle data.

Python is one of the most popular languages for data transformation, and the second half of the Techdegree uses mostly Python. The Data Analysis Techdegree covers the Python libraries most popularly used for data analysis such as Matplotlib and Seaborn.

Every Tech Degree student graduates with a GitHub portfolio of the projects they completed during the course. This portfolio of skills has prepared En-Wei to interview for Data Analysis jobs everywhere because it’s now easy to demonstrate his skill set directly in interviews.

What background do you need before heading into Data Science?

You don’t need to have any kind of background to learn data science. In today’s world, everything you need to learn is available on the Internet. It’s not required to have a specific background to get started – you can jump right in and start piecing it together as you go.

En-Wei’s background touched on several awesome pursuits, but he never tried Data Science prior to doing the Techdegree. First, En-Wei did his bachelor’s degree in psychology and neuroscience. Then, after graduating, En-Wei went into professional sports. After that En-Wei was working as a jack-of-all-trades at a healthcare startup. 

While all of these are fantastic accomplishments, En-Wei’s first exposure to Data Analysis was with Treehouse!

If you are interested in learning to code or learning adjacent skills such as Data Analysis, you can get started by jumping onto Treehouse and taking one of our starter courses.

Treehouse delivers a great education online

The world is different now. Everything is remote and online. Anyone of any background can learn the skills you need to take on even the most complex of roles. 

Regardless of background, income level, or any other label you can think of, you can study and learn new skills. The only thing that matters is your attitude and commitment to your goals. 

It is also important to have a community that supports you. Fortunately, you can get that community online. You don’t need to have a special group of people nearby to get the education you need, you can join online forums and communities to get the inspiration that will motivate you to achieve your goals.

Tons of people online are learning about the topics they’re interested in and they’re getting motivated to learn more. We see tons of sign-ups every day on the Team Treehouse site because there are people all over the globe who are striving to learn to code together.

Why choose Treehouse?

There are hundreds of great resources out there – it can be difficult to decide which resource is right for you. 

Treehouse is an online coding school that is working towards lowering the barrier to entry for people of various backgrounds to get into tech. Treehouse strives to keep costs low and flexibility high, while simultaneously offering a high quality of education.

Treehouse is more than just an online resource, Treehouse is all about having high involvement from our teachers. Treehouse has a small army of teachers that are here to support your learning.

The Treehouse Data Analysis Techdegree offers the right mix in the curriculum. En-Wei chose the Data Analysis Tech Degree because he was looking at learning about Data Science and he found that the Data Analysis Tech Degree offered the right set of material. 

En-Wei was also hoping for something online that he could do at his own pace. He was hoping for something that was less expensive than the typical boot camp, but still had involvement from instructors that know how to handle these problems.

En-Wei found that all of his requirements were met by the Treehouse program. En-Wei loved that he was able to study when it was convenient for him and that he was able to get help when he needed it. The cost of the program was less than other programs, and he was able to get the whole thing done in a short amount of time!

Why choose the Data Analysis Techdegree vs. the Developer Techdegree

En-Wei thought about doing a developer Techdegree, such as the Front-end Web Development Tech Degree – he wasn’t sure which program would be better for him.

What it really came down to was the choice between the different career paths available to him. En-Wei felt passionate about Data Analysis and wanted to go straight after that skill set. So he ended up leaning towards the Data Analysis Techdegree from the start.

The career paths for a developer vs. a data analyst are very different. Data analysis is more about telling a story about a situation and using code and qualitative information to tell that story.

This skill was inspiring to En-Wei and motivated him to go after the Data Analysis Techdegree as a way to build up his ability to tell a story using quantitative information. 

The Biggest Pros of the Data Analysis Tech Degree

The Portfolio

As a part of any Techdegree, every student finishes a portfolio. This portfolio is found in your GitHub account and can be used to show future employers what you’re capable of. This is a huge pro of the Techdegree that sets the program apart from other programs.

Focus on Python

The Data Analysis Tech degree is focused on Python, which is the main scripting language for data scientists. En-Wei found this to be a huge pro because it is the right skill for what he wants to do and helped him build a foundation in Python that he can keep building on moving forward.

Both high-level and specific information

The Data Analysis Techdegree goes over both broad concepts as well as specific skills. This is extremely valuable as it gives both perspectives to the students. Data Analysis is often done with tools such as Google Sheets, so it’s important to know what Google Sheets can do. Then it’s important to have a command of Python to be able to do what you need to do beyond Google Sheets.

Part time

The Techdegree is time-flexible and can be done full-time or part-time. You take it at your pace so you can get done what you need to do in other areas of your life!

Online

The course is fully online, which allows you to be anywhere. En-Wei appreciated the flexibility to be able to take a 2-hour break whenever he wants, and then come back and keep working at the material.

Teacher involvement

The Treehouse Techdegrees are online, but they still have tons of teacher involvement. This really accelerates student commitment and learning.

Biggest Challenges

Tough problems

Some of the problems in the course are really tough. It can take several tries to do the problems, and requires persistence to solve the problems.

Big time commitment

It took En-Wei about 3 months to complete the whole program. En-Wei completed the program by studying part-time, but for the last week or two it was full-time. 

Remote learning

While remote learning has its pros, it can be challenging to stay motivated and engaged when on your own. 

Getting stuck

Getting stuck is the reality of coding. It’s going to happen, and it can take several days to work through problems. Fortunately, Treehouse equips you with a community that can help you get through these challenges.

Evaluation

There are several ways you’re evaluated throughout the Techdegree. There are quizzes, final exams, and projects. 

Quizzes

At the end of each section there are quizzes. These quizzes don’t try to trick you in any way – they’re straightforward and meant to make sure you’ve actually done the material. 

One final exam

The final exam is 1 hour long. It is similar to the quizzes in the sense that it measures whether or not you’ve done the course. If you’ve done the course and done the homework, then the final exam is straightforward to complete.

Projects

At the end of each unit, there’s a project that goes into your GitHub portfolio. The last project was a nice culmination of the whole course, which was a great victory lap for reinforcing and testing the knowledge learned. 

The projects are what become your portfolio. You can use these to build the assets you’ll show to future employers.

Why start your Techdegree today?

There are a bunch of reasons you should start your Techdegree today.

Aiming for a career change

Are you aiming for a career change? If you are, Treehouse is the right place to look. Treehouse helps students transition from one career to another every day. Students can level up their skills, and use that to prove they’re capable of new tasks and activities in new places. 

Looking to specialize

Are you looking to specialize and get a concrete skill set somewhere? If you are, you can get that at Treehouse. Build a concrete skill set to show employers what you’re made of. 

Discover new things

If you’re not sure where you want to go, but you want to learn something new and get motivated to make a change in your life, sign up for Treehouse!

Big thank you to En-Wei!

Thank you En-Wei for getting involved with the Treehouse program! We’re stoked to have you as one of our graduates, and we’re looking forward to the amazing things you’ll achieve with your newfound knowledge!

If you’re interested in signing up for the Data Analysis Techdegree, go to this page and check it out!