Why I switched to Mobile App Development

Yeah, I did it. I finally decided to kind of stop the hustle to become a Data Scientist and start pursuing Mobile Apps Development. You may be wondering why I did that. Because you have these hyped details about career paths in Data Science and that’s true. Data Science is referred to as the sexiest job of the century or something. My decision seems irrational and naïve for almost anyone who knows what Data Science is up to and what it’s worth.

I have gone through a lot of thinking and wondering about how this decision may affect my future and I am aware of most of that. I know what I am giving up. Data Science is the future. It is a big deal. I may not have decided to stop learning it unless a bunch of good reasons to do so are out there, right? What are those reasons?

The search for dung in the places where there has not been any cow is pointless

Well, the above subtitle is some sort of trial to translate an Amharic proverb and use it to show off what I am up to. Living in Ethiopia as with almost every third-world country makes you a late user of any kind of innovation and technological breakthroughs. Technology is just at its infant stage in such countries. It is not like our companies have started collecting their data early on or computerizing their daily transactions. The fundamental engine of Data Science is Data and what can we do in those companies which have not gathered their data for decades? Sadly we cannot help them to analyze their data or predict their future all of a sudden. Not to be a pessimist but it may take around a decade for local companies in my country to fully start enjoying the perks of Data Science.

This is not a simple fear or an irrational generalization. Search for Data Scientist jobs in Ethiopia all over LinkedIn, I am sure you won’t get any. Therefore a person who is a Data Scientist in Ethiopia is merely wasting his time and resources unless s/he decides to work as a remote freelancer on the platforms such as Upwork.

I fall into the “Danger Zone” of the Data Science Venn Diagram when I evaluated my skillset

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You might have heard about the Venn Diagram of Data Science which portrays the right skills needed to be a Data Scientist. The diagram consists of three circles that represent Hacking (Programming) Skills, Domain Knowledge (Communication Skills), and Math and Statistics Skills. These three circles intersect at this point where a person with all these skills can be a good Data Scientist where the sector at which only the Communication Skills and Hacking Skills meet is called “The Danger Zone”. That’s a nerd way of saying you’re useless.

I suck at Math. I always do. I excel in a lot of things but I couldn’t be able to show interest in Mathematics whatsoever. In the past four years of learning how to code, I haven’t faced many challenges that could stop me from thinking logically and systematically about tackling problems. Meanwhile, I score poor grades in the Mathematical courses I take. This implies that I fall into the desperate “Danger Zone” and I can neither be a Data Scientist nor a Machine Learning Engineer.

Let’s sum it up here

For the above two basic reasons and for the other ones that may seem superficial I have decided to start learning Mobile App Development which is Android App Development in Kotlin. This decision of what to pursue next also required much thought and research but finally, I can say I’m back to Software Engineering and most importantly CODING.