Open Source Internship - Azis Toktobaev

        This is almost the end of week 5 of the Summer Institute, and it feels like the semester is just around the corner. We have about 3 weeks left, and we are already working on Chapters 6 and 8. We ended the day yesterday with a conceptual discussion on the way the book reads for students who have never had coding experience. It became clear that we need to introduce Python and layer Markdown and Jupyter Notebooks on top of it. So, I spent this morning writing a short introduction to Markdown, assuming that the students already know how to code. Dr. Jan and I later discussed my work, and in the conversation, we both realized that Markdown and Jupyter Notebook introduction needs to come before Python for students to have an environment for testing and learning their code. So, I re-wrote the section to make it more general and broad. I enjoyed working this way, because I got to capitalize on my talents as a self-starter, creating the section on the Notebook e...

         Yesterday, I spent the day reading about Data Science programs and areas of research at different universities and research facilities. I was curious to find out about the slight differences between what is considered to be Data Science and Management Information Systems at some schools. I will reflect on the findings later and make a separate note, because I do not think I have a full grasp just yet. Additionally, I will be emailing professors, whose research I found interesting.          Today, I was invited to listen to a seminar by Wes McKinley, the founder of the Pandas library for Python and UrsaLabs, where he works on ApacheArrow. I learned about the conceptual differences between DataFrames in different languages, and the importance of creating a system, like ApacheArrow, that could convert and manipulate universal DataFrames across different platforms. On a personal note, I was excited to be there as a rookie in Data Sc...

          The last few days were a bit stormy for me as I was adjusting to the new workflow and the new team. It was particularly difficult because we were not given what we felt like enough directions at the beginning. This, however, was out of the hands of our instructors who are doing far more than what they had panned out for their summers. Many of the students interning at Berea, including myself, had plans to travel for work/research opportunities at different companies and research institutions across the country. When COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a shutdown of our campus and the end of the internship program, the Computer Science department created emergency spaces in our summer internship and research programs for all students who had been affected. Thanks to the department, I am dealing well with the implications of the pandemic during this instrumental summer on my path to graduate school. I am learning more about what it means to be a research ...

        My second day of this internship/research experience. From one side, today's experience seemed easier than the one on Friday, my first day, as I had an idea of what this process was going to look like. On the other hand, for people with standard 8-5 jobs, Mondays are generally harder than Fridays, and I truly felt it while getting out of bed at 7 am. While seemingly mundane, this learning curve is very important for me to mention as this is the first time I truly got to recognize the dread that the word Monday had been bringing all these years to the office workers in my life. All of my previous labor experiences were on a flex-schedule. With this knowledge, I plan to be better prepared for the next Mondays to come, of which I only have 7 left. Time flies.          We started off the day with some group members rearrangement, during which some teams lost while others gained members. The Data Analytics group, my group, welcomed my...

          The first day of my summer experience with the Berea College Computer Science department has gone by very quick. I felt nervous prior to today as I have never had an internship in Computer Science - all of my past experiences were within the fields of Teaching, Digital Business and Community Organizing. I really surprised myself with  my ability to stay focused and motivated throughout all the hours of coding. To be fair, the experience was really well organized and facilitated to make sure that I fuel my energy levels taking proper breaks from the computer screen. In fact, our group leader Rebekah insisted that we step away from the computer to get some blood going. In the moment I felt like I could work for longer and did not need a break. Now that I reflect on the day, I am realizing that taking breaks helped me to deliver at my best ability.        Today I had a deeper dive into bash commands on a Linux terminal, downl...