9/28 Class Essay

I’d like to get to know you better. What is your general background—in a few sentences, what do you want me to know about you? What are your interests academically, intellectually, or professionally? Basically, what do you care about (no wrong answers here)? What do you think data science is? Based on your conception of data science, in a very broad sense, how (if at all) do you think it can be harnessed to improve the lives of people (their quality of life), the environment, our understanding of ourselves or nature, business & economics, everyday problem solving, or anything else?

My name is Courtney and I am from Loudoun County, Virginia, though I don’t really consider myself a NOVA person because I grew up outside of Richmond and in Georgia and only moved to NOVA recently. I enjoy doing anything outside, whether that is running, walking, hiking, hammocking, studying, or anything else that can be done outside. I currently run on Team Blitz! I love discovering patterns in things and I’m a big fan of logical thinking, so I plan on majoring in Computational and Applied Mathematics and Statistics on the Applied Statistics track and possibly minoring in data science. My dad does data and analytics so I’ve learned a lot about Big Data and Machine Learning from him and it’s sparked my interests in data science and computer science. I also really enjoy psychology and learning about how people think; in another life, I would become a psychologist of some sort. In a third life, I would be a singer because I love writing songs and am trying to learn how to produce my own music. I’m also very passionate about volunteering and helping others and maybe someday I would like to do something relating to human development! I’ve found this class super interesting so far and I can’t wait to keep learning about it.

I don’t know the definition of data science, but I think that it is using data and information to identify patterns and processes in order to identify problems in systems and form solutions. I absolutely think that data science can be used in order to improve the quality of life of people. Information is one of the most important things in this world and the possibilities are endless for what we can do with data. I think that the specific application of data science depends on what realm of development we are discussing, but in general, I believe that it is important to gather data that accurately represents those who need help in order to create the best solutions possible. Facts are the future, and with the proper data, we can find patterns and discover some of the root causes of complex issues. I believe that there are patterns to be found in all processes, and data science can reveal those to us, whether they are processes in nature, in economics, in businesses, or even in our own subtle routines, and we could potentially learn to use these processes to our advantage. I don’t think that anything in this world is stagnant in terms of development; we can always improve in some way, and in many instances, we have no choice but to improve our society, such as tackling climate change or when economic recessions occur. I think that we don’t have enough resources in our country, and globally, pointed towards data science and human development. We need to harness data science not just to improve the lives of people in poverty and people in developing nations, but also to make developed countries more sustainable. The book that we just read from really made me think about how it isn’t just those in developing countries that would benefit from data science to identify and solve problems, but developed countries can benefit too because if we don’t address that our societies and pace of innovation are rapidly becoming unsustainable, we are going to face the much bigger problem of collapse. Overall, I don’t exactly know what data science is, but based on what I think it is, I don’t just believe that data science has the potential to improve lives, rather, I believe that it is imperative that we use data science in order to improve lives.