Faith’s Journey from Botany to Technology

Faith Ogunfuyi, a final year Botany student at the University of Lagos, resides in Lagos state, Nigeria with her family. In 2020, Faith made the decision to transition into the field of technology in order to find meaning in her life and invest in herself.

Faith had harbored a desire to pursue a career in tech for a long time, but struggled with choosing a specific learning path. She initially started with web development before finally settling on data analysis. Faith began her journey by taking beginner classes in data analysis. During her learning process, she discovered the Women Techsters Fellowship, and decided to apply for the Data Science & Artificial Intelligence learning track. She successfully went through the assessment and interview stages, ultimately securing her spot in the fellowship.

Her experience in the Women Techsters fellowship was incredibly educational, impactful, and intriguing, making it all worth it. Faith mentioned how the fellowship helped her build not only technical skills, but also valuable soft skills that she now utilizes in her job applications.

Engaging in the Community project for International Women’s Day gave Faith the chance to network with inspiring women from various African countries. Additionally, the Capstone Project allowed her to collaborate with individuals from different learning tracks, further enhancing her experience.

However, Faith faced a significant challenge during the training — balancing her school work with the demands of the program. Despite the difficulty, she managed to overcome this challenge by implementing strict measures that allowed her to prioritize tasks and stay on schedule. Looking back, Faith is amazed at her growth and accomplishments.

Another obstacle Faith has encountered in her tech journey is that many organizations prefer to hire graduates. However, she has been actively applying for contract-based jobs that are open to working with undergraduate students, and hopes for a positive outcome.

Through her learning journey, Faith has become well-versed in data cleaning, data manipulation, pre-processing, visualization, and model building using tools such as Excel, R, Python, and SQL.

Her tech journey has been a mix of challenges and beauty. Over time, her skills have developed significantly, giving her the confidence to apply for various jobs. Faith takes on projects and contracts that span from data analysis to machine learning.

Faith shared her gratitude for her facilitator, Mrs. Kawthar, for her patience and willingness to explain complex concepts in a way that was understandable to the participants.

Moving forward, Faith intends to utilize her newly acquired skills in tech for the development and growth of her environment. She plans to focus on advancing her career in data science.