I never dreamed that I would enjoy programming so much. In the past, data scientists were introduced as the sexiest job of the 21 century (Harvard Business Review, 2012) and the data was reported to be the most valuable resource in the world (The Economist, 2017). Since then, It is obvious that the attention to job positions related to the data increased. For dealing with the data, handling programming languages would be one of the most important skills. This article is about how I learned a programming language with almost zero experience at the University of Groningen(UG)!

Some programs at the UG require students to use one or two programming languages during the courses; my master’s program Marketing Analytics and Data Science (MADS) is no exception. When I was doing Pre-Master in Marketing, I was still not sure which profile of MSc Marketing I should follow after completing Pre-Master (Students can choose one of two profiles: MADS which more focuses on analytics/data engineering or Marketing Management which emphasizes the field of marketing communication, customer management, and branding). 

During my Pre-Master, I gradually found myself interested in data analyses and analytical techniques more than before. Consequently, I decided to take MADS profile; however, I was quite horrified by the start of my program because my programming skill was almost zero although students were supposed to use the programming language (mainly R) during my Master's program. 

Do you think I was able to survive in the program? Yes! Now I feel very comfortable using R and even learned the basics of other languages (SQL and Python) during the program. How could I manage to obtain the skills? Well, the UG helped me very much! There were three important opportunities I got at the UG:

First and foremost, courses in the program guided me to a great improvement in programming skills. I need to admit that the first block was the hardest since I needed to learn both the theory and how to code. The lecturers provided us with sample R codes and data sets in addition to the lecture slides; therefore, we could play with the data in R in order to get a deeper understanding of the structure at my own pace. Besides, some of the courses gave us individual assignments and these assignments allowed me to improve my coding skills dramatically because I needed to code all by myself and to deal with issues when some errors occurred by myself. In addition, happily, I realized that I was not the one who did not have much programming experience soon after my master's started; hence, I could work together with other peers to figure out the next step when we had issues. Also, the lecturers were always supportive so I had never felt that I became left behind.

Secondly, massive open online courses (MOOC), in which anyone can study their favorite subjects online helped me a lot. My program recommended that students took courses in DataCamp, one of the MOOC services; some of the courses were mandatory for us to complete. Since I could actually code on the platform and practice anytime, anywhere, I could keep learning not only in my brain but also with my hands. Also, receiving an awesome encouragement from DataCamp when I completed each exercise, I felt easy to keep motivated. In addition to mandatory courses, I did my best to complete several courses in which I was interested (there are numerous courses on the platform), which also helped me improve my programming skill.

Lastly, I participated in the learning community. The learning community is a one-semester course that my Faculty (Economics and Business) provides and students can take any topic which they want to learn. A certificate was provided after the completion of the course. I took basic and advanced courses of “Programming in R.” During the course, I could get lectures and chances to work in a group. In the basic course, I learned a deeper understanding of each topic, practiced coding, and did the homework with my group member. In the advanced course, I learned how to visualize the data and could improve my visualization skills by creating the dashboard (a graphical user interface that provides the information of the data).

The programming gives me happiness when the code works perfectly and the frustration when the code does not work and error messages keep popping up. A trial and error is a key element to the great improvement in programming as it is a key element to our life. If you are currently thinking of following one of the programs in which programming skills are required but are worried about whether you can catch up with the courses or if you are interested in programming but you hesitate to take the first step, please do not worry! The UG provides us with sufficient academic support and in the end, I am sure that you find yourself enjoying programming. The data tells us a lot of facts, insights, and findings; day by day, my passion for data is increasing.

If you have questions about the marketing program, life in Groningen etc., please reach out via a contact form on my personal page.