Astrophysics - a road to Data Science!

This is my journey, and what I am about to share is by no means obligatory to those wanting to get involved in data science. However, I am telling my story to share how becoming a data scientist is about understanding the techniques that you work with.

I guess one could say that my journey started from primary school with mathematics. The subject was intuitive to me and I found it comforting. In my free time, I used to solve puzzles or watch my father solve an engine enigma and sometimes, he would ask me to draw something up for him so that he could understand better. No wonder, then, that I am also a visual learner.

As is normal in public schools in Malta, I was introduced to Physics in my secondary and I immediately loved it.

But I failed my first annual exam in Physics.

I had done well in my half-yearly exam but barely scraped 40% in the annual. Needless to say I was shocked, disappointed and couldn't understand what happened. I got 90+% in the half yearly, so of course I thought I was going to ace it, again.

Indeed there was an external factor which I will not share here, but the outcome of this experience was to attend private lessons. As the irony of life goes, my parents started paying for private lessons and I got a great teacher of physics in school. This teacher, and if he reads this article, he knows I'm referring to him because I told him many times, he is the reason I got to where I am today!

One of tricky parts of teaching students is to adapt to the way they learn. I am a visual learner so, when the teacher used to draw designs to teach us forces, tension and so on, for me it became clear. Moreover, I began extending that way of learning onto other subjects where possible to increase marks. I mean, I say where possible because my history still suffered greatly.

Needless to say, I wanted to pursue Mathematics and Physics at A-level, which I did but I struggled immensely. Those two years I felt like a fish out of the water, probably suffered an identity crisis and when I express that I was sure I failed my A-levels, I ask you to believe me. If not, I will convince you. A couple of months before the exams, I was sick for the fourth time with tonsillitis to the point that they blocked my airway if I did not take antibiotics. At the same time, I had an allergic reaction to the same medicine that was letting me breathe. So a month before the verbal exams, I had my surgery. Three weeks after I had my tonsils removed, I sat for the French verbal exam. You can imagine, how greatly I pronounced the famous french 'r'.

I had told my parents that I was going to fail because I knew that I was not prepared nor confident in my learnings over the previous two years. Despite their efforts to encourage me, I began looking for work. I sat all exams as planned, and two weeks after my last exam, I started my first full time job as office administrator.

My tasks included answering calls, making copies, and ensuring other managers had their filing systems in order.

Eventually, I was taught some accounting with plans to sign me up for a course. Was I happy? I don't know, but I also felt that I didn't have a choice. That is until I received my results that I passed and, for all intents and purposes, could attend University.

I shrugged at the results, and I genuinely believed that they made a mistake. How could it have been possible? I couldn't believe I passed my Mathematics A-level for the simple reason that I didn't do all the questions.

I have a PhD in Astrophysics, but I couldn't answer all Maths A-level questions.

When time went on, and I didn't receive an update for the results, I began wondering what happened. I was sure that I failed simply because I didn't do all the questions. We were asked to complete four questions out of five from section A, and one question from each Section B to D or was it E, that were more complicated. The first four questions, I did well. I knew that and that was ok. But I also knew that together they didn't carry as much weight as the other sections. The remainder three, I completed only half. In that moment, I didn't care about counting points, but with a total of four questions, and three half questions, I managed to get my grade.

The questions I did answer, I got right.

It took months for me to realise that I could attend University after all.

I was so sure I was going to fail that I was dealing with the fact that I was not good enough to attend University.

Eventually, when the facts sunk in, I began considering going back to school a year later. But I had a small problem.

I did not know which course to enrol into.

It was always clear to me that I like mathematics. Then I began learning physics and it was beautiful, for me. I pursued the subjects but when choosing a career, I was at a loss. So I went for counselling that told me:

I could get into all the courses except those that require Maltese language*.

*I want to clarify that I am Maltese and I speak Maltese (with a dialect). However, some courses require a Grade level for the language and I didn't pick Maltese as a subject, thus no Grade.

So, here I was, with results that I got thinking I failed, an ocean of opportunities and I was at a loss. The counsellor at the University of Malta guided the conversations to understand what I liked, and whilst I love aviation, at the time, the courses didn't focus on aviation. My option then boiled down to either enrol for a Bachelor of Science (Double Honours) in Mathematics and Physics, or pick a stream fit for a specific career.

I wasn't ready to choose. I was 19 years old and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my future. So I did what I felt was the right choice and opted for BSc (DH) in both Mathematics and Physics.

Starting the course with a year gap was difficult. I sat in class with the majority of students a year younger than me and their knowledge fresh in their minds. As can be imagined, the first year was tough. I thought maybe I made a mistake and even discussed changing subjects to Marine, or Oceanography. Then, in the second year, I realised that I can study space in Malta.

I was surprised, shocked and happy at the same time.

During the year gap, I used to watch a lot of space movies, and read space books but never, in my wildest dreams, did I think I would study the subject in my home country. My parents could never afford a tuition abroad and so I didn't give it much thought. But at this discovery, I remember thinking "this is it!" So I made the choice to do a theoretical dissertation for my final year on alternative theories of gravity. I loved learning about Einstein's theory and how it was built upon Newton's. It made sense to me, and I enjoyed it.

But the dilemma continued after I got the BSc. What comes next?

In 2013, I had two options: either pursue a PhD in Astrophysics which I had been raving about since I realised I can do it in Malta, or go work in a financial institution.

How did I decide to go for a PhD? I didn't!

My mother saw me one day working on something mathematical as I was helping a friend with an exam. She said, in a statement not a question, 'you're doing some mathematics work aren't you?' to which I replied 'yes! how did you know?'. What she said next convinced me:

Because your face is calm, your smile is relaxed and you ignore the rest of the world.

That observation lead me to enrol for a PhD in Astrophysics, studying Bayesian techniques to understand noise bias in galaxy images from ground/space telescopes.

I wish this was the last of my confusion but as most PhD students and graduate tell you, during the last year the big question pops again, 'What comes next?'.

This time though, I had more information to go on.

Firstly I was exhausted! I knew, absolutely and surely that I was not going to do a Post Doctoral. That was out of the question. I wanted to leave Malta, but I didn't know what work opportunities to seek. Those who know me, know that I am not afraid to ask, so I reached out to a fellow Maltese living in London, who had done a PhD on a similar topic but landed a role in London. I wanted to know how so we met at a café and he guided me on how my skills compare to the market.

I was stunned! What? My skills are applicable in data analysis in Banking? Today I laugh, because of course they are. But from an academic lens, the link was not made obvious to me. Moreover, he shared with me that the hype around machine learning was actually bayesian based and so I made the courage to apply for data analyst and scientist roles.

I was doing my fellowship in Oxford when I started applying for roles, about three to four months away from finishing the PhD. Of course, I put that deadline on myself because as I said, I was tired and wanted to move on with my life. I had interviews in UK, but there was one problem that I couldn't avoid. I still had four months to finish and write up my thesis so I couldn't just move to the UK and work. But when a company based in Malta accepted to have me starting on a part-time basis, I took the opportunity. I was three months away from finishing my doctorate, and I landed my first job as a data scientist. To the Head of Data who hired me, Thank you!

I wish this was it! At first, I was at a loss. Jupyter went from a planet to a notebook. Redshift went form a cosmological metric to database. The transition was not easy at all and ultimately I got the exam date for my Viva Voce. I was at work, so I locked myself up in the restroom and began trembling.

The day I got the PhD remains one of my happiest memories. I remember the day as if it were yesterday. I didn't use my phone at all for four days previously, except to listen to three songs on repeat, to hype me up. When I learned that I passed, I couldn't stop crying. I walked towards my parents' car who drove me for the exam as I was too stressed to drive myself, and I knew that if they saw me crying, they would think otherwise. So, walking with knees bent, holding my thesis on one hand, and crying out loud, I walked and raised my thumb up in the air to show that it went well. It took a while for my parents to get the message but I started nodding, whilst crying, to show them that all their sacrifices, all their Saturday night parties to cheer me up resulted in a Doctorate and a job, which upon getting the PhD, turned to full-time basis.

I spent the next two years learning everything I can to succeed in Data Science, and I look back with nostalgia and smile because my career started in Malta, but it continued in Auckland - New Zealand and London - UK. My journey is not over, and I remain a student despite working in the industry. I strive to provide ethical work and advice on data in every role I worked in, and I continue to attend courses to this very day.