What I learned after completing GCI as a working mom. A realistic reskilling record of how I went from clueless to the finish line

Hello. I'm Noe, and I share tips on reclaiming your own time through efficiency, laziness, and AI utilization 😊

I have successfully completed the GCI (Global Consumer Intelligence Endowment Course at the University of Tokyo) held at the Matsuo-Iwasawa Laboratory at the University of Tokyo!

Today, I'm writing about my GCI experience for those who are thinking, "I'm interested in data science, but can I really learn it with my current lifestyle?"

I started it with a very light heart.
But in reality, it was harder than I imagined, with weekly classes, assignments, a final project, and two competitions.
Moreover, at first, I was completely clueless; I couldn't understand the code, and when I wrote it myself, it wouldn't run.
There were times along the way when I thought, "This might be impossible."

Still, the reasons I was able to complete it weresecuring study time with my family's cooperationandusing generative AI as my teacherwhich were huge factors.

GCI, which I started with a light heart, was a more serious learning experience than I thought

While working in DX promotion and digital marketing, I had long been interested in data science.
I enrolled in GCI with the desire to learn it systematically while I had the chance.

But once it started, just keeping up with the weekly classes was a burden, and on top of that, there were assignments, a final project, and competitions. Before I knew it, I was constantly being chased by something, thinking, "I haven't caught up on this week's work yet" or "What should I do about the next report?"

People tend to think that if you just have time, you can manage reskilling, but in reality, it required physical strength, concentration, and the cooperation of my family.

Tuesday was "GCI Day." I made it work through a system

GCI classes were every Tuesday night. So, from the beginning, I set aside Tuesday asGCI Dayand kept it fixed.

The flow was that a babysitter would come in the evening to play with my daughter while I took the class. When my husband got home, he would take over from the babysitter, and I would seclude myself in a room where I could be alone.

However, the only room I could seclude myself in had no heating, so I was taking classes in the freezing cold every week.
I would wrap myself in a blanket while shivering, and often my daughter would burst in shouting "Mommy!" after the babysitter had left.

Even so,creating a system to protect my study time firstwas a big deal. Because if you try to study in your spare time, you usually don't have any.

For homework and competitions, I scraped together bits of time

There were days when I could continue with homework and reports right after class, but it wasn't possible every time. So, I made it a rule to do it on Tuesday nights if I had the energy. If not, I would move it to another day.

On days when my husband was in charge of pick-up, I would review the recordings, write reports, or study at the library, and I would work on the competitions during the time my husband took my daughter out on weekends or during my lunch break at work. That's how I scraped together bits of time and made progress little by little.

Honestly, I can't say it was efficient. But for a working mom, you can't always find a block of time every week. That's exactly why it was important todesign it so I could get back on track even if things fell apart.

Generative AI helped me more as a "question partner" than for "answers"

In the beginning, I couldn't understand the code even when I looked at it. It wouldn't run even when I wrote it myself. Even when errors occurred, I didn't know what the problem was. Since I was in that state, I asked generative AI about even the most basic things.

• What does this code mean?

• Why isn't the code I wrote working?

• I want to do this, so could you create some reference code for me?

• What seems to be the cause of this error?

Studying is tough because of the time you spend stuck not knowing what or how to ask. Having generative AI allowed me to significantly reduce that downtime.

Of course, you shouldn't just trust the answers blindly. That's why I used generative AI not as someone who gives me answers, but as a tutor who listens to my questions.

I was aiming for top student, but it's a shame I didn't quite make it.

Actually, I was secretly aiming to be a top student. In the end, I didn't reach it, and that was definitely disappointing.

However, the fact that I was able to run through to the end, when at the beginning I was in a state of 'will I even be able to keep up?', is a huge step forward in itself.

What was good about GCI was touching on the basics across the board.

The best thing about completing the course was being able to go through the basics of data science once.

It started with really simple Python, and I was able to touch on a wide range of topics, from data processing and model implementation to how to formulate hypotheses for analysis. Of course, I didn't come to understand everything.

But the way I see things has clearly changed between before and after taking the course. Before, I was in a state of 'not even knowing what I don't know,' but now I can see a little bit of where I'm stumbling, thinking, 'This is about preprocessing.'

Summary

GCI was really tough. But being able to run to the end with the help of my family and generative AI, and being able to touch on the basics of Python, data processing, model implementation, and analysis, has become a great asset to me.

If you are currently thinking, 'I'm interested in data science, but it might be impossible for me,' you don't have to aim for perfection from the start. First, schedule your study time in advance. Keep a generative AI by your side that you can consult when you don't understand something. Just doing that makes a big difference.

I would be happy if I could give even a little push to those who are similarly thinking, 'I want to learn, but it might be impossible,' in between work and childcare.😊