My ’21 Journey

The year 2021 was filled with numerous challenges and ups and downs but despite these, I emerged a better and stronger person. When I started my career in tech, I was inclined to the hardware part. However, on getting into the software space, I developed a keen interest in AI and wanted to get to learn the skill but I was confused and lost. I had no idea where and how to start. But, I took the leap of faith towards my path of interest.

Upon resumption of school, I joined and participated in the mentorship program organized by the AI+ Funaab Community, of which I am a proud member. I was opportune to meet a lot of people with the same interest who made improving my skillset easier. To accomplish more, I decide to set out a to-do list of goals I would like to achieve within six months of my entry into the AI space. These included:

• Completing a Data Analytics and Data Visualization course
• Completing a project related to Data Analysis
• Starting with Machine learning and carrying out projects on it

Within 6 months of getting into the tech space, I was able to tick off these goals from my target list, but don’t be deceived, it was at great cost and filled with many setbacks. Some of these crazy setbacks were confusing bugs that denies one of sleep and the numerous Nigerian factors such as constant lack of power supply, unavailability of mobile data and network, lack of understanding and lack of motivation to work amongst others. Even though these setbacks slowed down my work, they never stopped me from meeting my target.

After ticking off these goals, I took on a new challenge by registering and starting two internship programs as a Junior Data Scientist at Zummit Infolabs and Hamoye AI. However, the constraints of time and work forced me to choose one of the internships at the expense of the other!

During this time, I had the opportunity to work and meet with different amazing people and also got the chance to work on a Real-Time Project. Again, I encountered various setbacks but they helped me build my skills and also my ability to relate with my teammates. The internship also gave me the chance to learn from experts in the field of AI and also widen my scope of AI learning more about Computer Vision, GANS, NLP and other amazing projects. I got my certificate of completion for my internship at Zummit Infolabs on November 19th, 2021. Hurrayy!

After my experience at Zummit Infolabs, I wanted to explore the AI space, learn more amazing stuff and work on interesting projects. So I went back to the drawing board and I drafted another list of two items which I started at the beginning of December and hoped to complete by the end of the year.

The two items on the list:

• 30 Days Of Deep Learning Challenge
• Starting with Streamlit

I started the #30DaysOfDeepLearning Challenge as a result of an inspiration I got while working at Zummit Infolabs. I had learnt a lot about the theory of Deep Neural Networks and wanted to put all I learned into practice. I did make some progress but I would not bore you with all the technical details, but I would attach a link to some of the projects I worked on at the end of this article.

When I started the #30DaysOfDeepLearning Challenge, I was prepared to face a lot of troubles and setbacks, but my “Troubles and setbacks” started when I moved to a much higher phase of Deep Learning (CNN). I started having issues understanding some of the theoretical concepts of the topic but coupled with the stress from my undergraduate classes, I had to put the Challenge on hold for a while. I would restart the challenge in the coming year, so watch out for some interesting projects I would be doing along the way.

I was also able to start with learning how to use Streamlit and put to practice all that was learnt during this period. Click link here

The year was not without its own victories. In the course of the year, I got some achievements that motivated me to do more work and put more effort into the work I do. Notably, I finished among the top 10% participant in the AI Invasion Competition and then moved up the leaderboard as one of the top 30 participants in the AI Bootcamp Competition organized by the Data Scientist Network formerly known as Data Science Nigeria. Also, I participated as a collaborator in a Project with the Omdena Lagos Chapter and became a member of the Lagos Local chapter. I am also proud of the completion of my internship at Zummit Infolabs.

I also have massive Ls this year. Sadly, I made some costly and stupid mistakes in the year but notwithstanding, 2021 has been a great year so far. Though I wish I had the opportunity to network with different people and also get to travel beyond my scope of knowledge, I believe that I would do more of that in 2022 and would definitely maximize more opportunities.

I can’t talk about having a great year without mentioning the amazing set of people I got to meet along the line. The DSN Funaab Community has been a major impact from the beginning of my journey to the present stage I am. I made a set of amazing guys as friends and also met people who did their best to put me on the right path this year. I had to meet gurus like Tobi, Emmy, Ridwan, Peculiar, Dayo, Collins, Simi, Manuel and other amazing guys from different tracks in the tech industry. I am grateful that I met each and every one of them from my Mentors to my friends and to my mentees. Omo na una dey motivate me (they keep me motivated).

Well above all, I wouldn’t have had a great time this year without my Family members solidly behind me. You guys are always the first to hear about all my achievements and you have always made sure to motivate and check on me every now and then. Thanks personally to my Brother, thank you for being a role model, my number one article reviewer and my number one PR guy. Keep on motivating me, we go spend the 7figure salary together mafo.

NOW, WHAT NEXT ???, I am majorly looking to get more into the space of being an MLOps Engineer and also end the year with a 7figure salary😜. It might not have looked like a great year but I can say I have had one of the best years 😊😊.

Special thanks to everyone reading this and those who helped work on it.❤❤

Go through this link to check out some projects I worked on during the year.

You should check me out on LinkedIn.

Watch the Space😎😎.