About

Hi there! 👋 I'm Arunn, a full-time data scientist and a part-time writer. You probably stumbled across me from either LinkedIn or Medium. Welcome to DataGrads!

DataGrads is your guide to breaking into and growing in the world of data science.

It was born from the idea that you don't necessarily need expensive university degrees or spend a lot of money to break into the field.

Many have achieved this.

I've done it.

So can you.

It's been 5 years since I started my data science journey. I couldn't be more content with what I have achieved and transformed myself throughout my journey.

Here's My Story.

Back in 2017, I was finishing up a computer science degree and had no clear idea of my career.

I had just bagged an internship in software engineering in one of the biggest reputed banks in my country - it was supposed to be a dream come true in everyone else's eyes, but I hated the role. I knew following the traditional path to software engineering wasn't for me.

I kept questioning myself, is this something I want to continue doing as my job? If not this, what then?

I was a confused undergrad.

I had questions, and it was time to look for answers.

Data science was the field that spiked my interest.

I believed I needed a Master's degree to break into data science. I was preparing for GRE and TOEFL, collecting Letters of Recommendation from professors, and embracing the idea of burying myself in student loans.

While looking up curriculums in top universities in the USA came a surprising revelation.

No, this can't be true.

The more research I did, the clearer it became to me.

The curriculums offered at the top universities are available online, for a fraction of the cost, from the same university, taught by the same professors. After all, I didn't have to do a Master's degree to learn data science.

I took Andrew Ng's Machine Learning Course from Stanford without spending a penny. I took several other courses from top universities such as the University of Michigan, John Hopkins University, and more. I learned the skills and worked on a few projects. I aced the interview and got my first data science job in 2018.

I kept learning online, creating more projects, and finally started sharing my journey publicly on Medium and LinkedIn.

No, I don't want to make it look easy because it wasn't. But I was passionately curious about AI and data science and wanted to be in this industry.

It's been 5 years, and I'm a full-time data scientist and part-time writer.

If a confused undergrad from a tiny island called Sri Lanka who had no idea what he was doing can find a way to make this happen, you sure as heck can.

What Can You Expect Here?

My motto for everything in data science is: Learn. Create and Share.

So, as I cruise through my data science journey, I'll share my experiences, learnings, and mistakes over the years. I also learn new topics in the field that excite me, and you'll hear about these advanced topics in a more straightforward way.

Everything I learn, create, and share will be first available here.

I'm hoping to organize all my content into these topics:

At some point in the future, I'm planning to add an ebook and other stuff that will benefit data enthusiasts to become a successful DataGrad.

Here's my promise: I will add value to you whenever I put something out.

How to Get the Best Out of DataGrads?

1, 2, 3, and 4.

One, Become my email friend. You'll hear from me whenever I publish any new content here. I'll love it if you bookmark and visit this website a few times a month. Besides this website, I'm mostly active on LinkedIn and Medium, where it all started.

Two, take action. Write down your goal on a piece of paper, and start taking action. Sometimes it feels inspiring to read articles, but it's not beneficial to you unless you do that course, work on the project, or apply for that company. There's no one-size-fits-all advice, so tailor it to you and start taking action. If you need help here, you may book a 1-1 consultation to accelerate your journey.

Three, share your journey publicly. The online world will be your accountability partner, and even I'd love to hear every one of your stories.

And lastly, four, Send me your honest feedback. Let me know if some of my work was beneficial for you and what you'd like to see more often. The constructive feedback will only help me become better at what I do and add more value to you.

With that, DataGrads is all yours!