Intro to Data Science

When I signed up for POLI 1800, the intro to data science class, I had basically no coding experience. I’d never opened RStudio before and I definitely didn’t think of myself as someone who would ever write code on purpose. I took the class because it sounded useful, not because I thought it would become a major part of my academic life.

By the end of the semester, something completely unexpected happened. I got comfortable with R. Really comfortable. I started using it for other classes, including full final papers where I collected data, cleaned it, made graphics, and ran models without feeling lost. I even used R in my application to PORES and a few other research positions, and it actually helped me stand out. I went from barely knowing what a vector was to being someone who relies on R every week.

And then there was the other surprise. Somewhere between debugging code and going over problem sets, I realized my professor and I were both huge baseball fans. What started as a random baseball reference in class turned into regular conversations about stats, lineups, and the misery and joy of following a team over a long season. That connection made the class feel smaller and more personal, and it also helped open doors to other political science opportunities I wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

- Robin A.