Baby Steps to Giant strides: The Beginning
I don’t think I’ve ever done this before. Lol . Sharing my journey with anyone that cares to listen. I’m quite introverted when it comes to sharing my journey but if there’s one thing I’m learning, it’s that no matter how “incomplete" you think your story is, you just might be inspiring someone.
Let’s cut to the chase right?
BACKGROUND
My name is Adedoyin and I’m so many things. I know this is a very vague way of describing myself but right now I don’t have words. I’m capable of doing a couple of things pretty well; this literally made choosing a career path quite difficult.
I wanted to be so many things like a doctor, a photographer, a writer, a spoken word artist, a software engineer, a product manager, a graphics designer(this would have been great because I have great eye for design)a genetic counselor(Bsc Cell Biology and Genetics, quite fitting 🙂). The thing is I could do most of these things and succeed at it but i never had the discipline to stay and learn the fundamentals. I just wanted to freestyle because I thought to myself several times “I’m a natural, why do I need to learn go through this rigorous training?”
Another thing I used to do was run away anytime I faced seemingly difficult stuff. I’d conclude and say “Mehhhh… This ain’t it, this isn’t for me. I’m not supposed to do this." 😂😂. It’s funny now because I’ve learnt and I’m still learning but it was a real excuse for me then.
Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard. ~ Tim Notke, basketball coach
THE PUSH
September 2018. That was the first time I heard the word Bioinformatics. This was during my mandatory service year(NYSC) which I spent working in a research institute (IITA). I was intrigued by what I found out when I looked it up. I saw that it was an intersection between Statistics, Programming and Biology and honestly I was tired of Wet lab(this is where biologists carry out their experiments). I tried to get in for a bioinformatics internship, that didn’t work out. I was quite confused as to what to learn,so I consumed every material I saw on bioinformatics which led to “Information overload”.
Few months later, I went through a free programming training for women called Nigerian women Techsters by Tech4Dev in partnership with GIZ. It was the most intense two weeks of my life but I stayed, Shocker! I liked the challenge programming brought. It was tough for me but I loved it.
After that I got to intern with iQube Labs which is an amazing place to work by the way. I learnt a lot, got to work with the most creative and innovative minds in the tech industry… but something happened.
I got accepted into the University of Lagos for a full time masters degree in Cell and Molecular Biology. I wasn’t sure how to balance both so I resigned.
After my resignation, I reviewed my journey and saw how I had strayed from my goal of becoming a Bioinformatician. Tech is quite broad and if you aren’t sure of what you want to do, you can get carried away. At least, that’s what happened to me.
I left programming for a while just because I was unsure of what to do next, my journey was becoming rather confusing.
A retreat from someone or something isn’t unusual. Just as how you edge closer to see better, at times you may need to take a step back to get a clearer view.
Rajuda
Baby Steps
2020. I decided to start over. I was about two months into my graduate degree when the lockdown started. Covid-19 happened, school was on hold but I wasn’t lol.
I got a couple of certifications from online Bioinformatics trainings, they were great but it still wasn’t enough. I needed a thorough program on Bioinformatics.
Towards the end of the year, I heard of a one month internship program by HackBio, I checked it out but I found out that I had missed it. I turned on post notifications for their Twitter account and few weeks later, they started taking applications for a three month Fellowship program and this looked more intense and detailed compared to the internship.
I applied and got in. This is where I’m at at the moment.
The HackBio Fellowship starts tomorrow, 2nd of February, 2021. I’m excited and I can’t wait to share my progress journey 😊
My name is Adedoyin, an aspiring Bioinformatician and this is my progress story. I’ll be writing an article on my journey to becoming a Bioinformatician once every month till the end of the year. I hope you stay on this journey with me. See you soon!
