Have you ever felt like an imposter even after reading many articles about a topic and studying relevant works and research papers? If you ever felt like it, it’s most likely because you are one.
Now why would I say that because I have felt like one for a long time, this is about data science courses and projects I have been doing. I read a mountain load of theory, discussed it with my peers, and solved many projects assigned to me. I would always find myself stressed out and unable to justify why I would use the functions I used and why I would use this approach and not some different approach. The only time I felt that I knew something was when I chose projects myself worked hard on it and kept trying until I got all my intrinsic questions answered.
so from now on I will adopt the approach to learn by project. it’s not some newfound meta way of doing things but an old and tested methodology. The only reason I and people like me don’t go for this option is due to the initial resistance to finding a relevant project that also resonates with the topic I am trying to study. But I can tell you overcoming this resistance is worthwhile and finding a project that you would like to work on just does magic and wonders to the learning experience. there are many changes I observed, suddenly the advanced math that you dreaded seems like it all makes sense and the advanced jargon becomes intuitive and you understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. It is so much fun to work on and create something you like that the extra effort just feels like fun and learning difficult and dreadful topics becomes a breeze.
so I made a decision that no matter how high the initial resistance is I will find a relevant project and do work on it and study the topic while doing it. I shared this just in case my experience comes in help for someone else out there.