BS (Data Science)
Coming from a background unlike that of what one would assume to have an interest in Data Science, Bhabani Shankar Samal simply took a leap of faith hinged on a belief that it would take him to places he did not have faith he could. That belief came from an online platform where he stumbled across the IIT Madras BS Degree in Data Science and Applications and researched into its curriculum. Finding it in line with his passions, despite the asymmetrical background and combined with its flexibility, he decided to enroll. Although his first term began with uncertainty, difficulty and acclimation, gradually due to the quality of pedagogy, he grasped the concepts.
This was the push he needed to know he would pursue it full-time and found genuine interest in its domains.
With the ramp up in broadness of concepts in diploma, he knew what he was in store for and handled it with brevity, now with the experience and interest he gained in the foundation-level. He began with an expectation of not being able to complete it but, just like before, he managed it at his own pace. Near the end of his diploma, with both skills and passion in his pocket, he applied and got selected to be an intern for IIT Madras’ CODE and that internship granted him a variety of soft skills and technicalities.
From colleague and instructor collaboration on real world projects to better communication and getting to know about the corporate workflow, it taught him the knowhows of real-life systems.
He was able to hone his technical skills in programming and problem solving and the projects he completed bolstered his confidence in the field.
This was furthered by his participation in Paradox. Not only was meeting his friends from far away a jovial prospect but attending the workshops offered piqued his interest. Taking part in workshops such as “Strategies for DSA”, “Cloud Computing” and “LLM CLI”, all of it gave him technical knowledge that became handy in his future ventures, plans and internships.
Alongside that, in lieu with his habit of dallying to different sources of knowledge, he took NPTEL courses in ‘Data Mining’ and ‘Cloud Computing’, enjoying the process thoroughly due to its quality and credit transfer systems. Currently, he is looking forward to the GATE examination and preparing for that through the degree’s sources and other courses he dabbles into from other platforms, after which he plans to apply for placement and do his Master’s alongside that.
If he were to stand at the starting line again, he says, he would tell himself to not overthink too much about whether or not it is worth it. That spiral of thoughts is just a waste of time as the BS Degree gives its students what is given into it by them.
It’s more important to complete the journey, be open to learning and practice repeatedly until the concepts click.
And should someone not understand a thing or two, seek help from the robust support system and explore resources provided.
In the end, Bhabani stands as testament of the fruit of effort and hard work.
~written by Krishneal Dutta
