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A couple years ago, I took an undergraduate biostatistics course here at UC Berkeley and vividly remember one of the first discussion section activities on interpreting data and visualizations. From this activity, I learned about why, as data consumers, we must always be aware of not only what visualizations are really representing but also understanding where the data is really coming from. While this might seem obvious, this has been one of the most valuable lessons as an aspiring data scientist/enthusiast.

As part of my Masters of Public Health program I needed to complete a capstone. Working on a manuscript is a lot of back and forth: You need to make edits, fix your words and figures, and sometimes re-work entire sections. If you are like me, the thought of doing this process over a long period of time in Word makes me nauseous. Two main issues that cause this nausea for me are:

1. I frequently forget to make a record of my writing and often overwrite work 

Intercontinental trips require multiple days of traveling, layovers, and more often than not, rerouting due to bad weather. While some may consider a storm to be a roadblock, others may take it as an opportunity to explore a new city and its culture. A year ago, a heavy storm hit the entire world; COVID-19 sent us into lockdown. Most of our activities were cancelled. We could not go to work, eat at restaurants, or gather in-person with our friends anymore. That forced us to take a step back and adjust to the new situation.