I am so excited to join the first Data School cohort in New York City. From my first encounter of learning about the Data School from an Eventbrite event, to the TC22 Conference, I have been amazed at the capability of Tableau. Tableau is such a simple but powerful tool. I have learned a lot on my Tableau journey so far, especially when I was going through the application process.

TC22 provided me with some insight on:

· What can Tableau do?

· Why use it?

· Where can you use it?

· How to make your life easier with Tableau.

· Who should use Tableau?

TC22 had various good talks, but what really connected with me was Data + Diversity: The Engine for Innovation. Chad Foster being blind and working in a tech career would seem abnormal. How can one work in tech when they cannot see? Many would assume it to be an impossibility, but Chad Foster can prove you wrong - because being blind actually gave him an advantage. The advantage was that it was easier for him to filter out the numbers in the data. He is not overloaded by the vast amount of data but has a sharper sense of it. In the talk, he first began talking about happiness as not a feeling but a decision. The power of choice. Excuses are for losers. We’ve got to be accountable for our own life and be more mindful of what we have. One interesting thing that he does with his kids is a gratitude exercise; each night before bed they say 3 things that they are grateful for. It is human nature to compare ourselves to others and judge if they are capable of not. Chad Foster subverts the expectations of many in that not only is he capable, but he is even more capable by being blind.

You can’t imagine what it would be like to be in their shoes and so should not be judging if they are capable, but rather asking ourselves what we can get out of diversity?

Diversity is like titanium steel. Pure titanium is already a very strong metal that is also very light. Titanium steel is a cheaper metal that combines various alloys together for a different result. Titanium steel retains the same strength and corrosion resistance, but takes on the greater flexibility and malleability of the metal it is combined with. Titanium steel contains traces of aluminum, molybdenum, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, zirconium, manganese, iron, chromium, cobalt, nickel and copper. Each alloy needs intricate bonds to connect with one another to create titanium steel. Can we also do this with people? We should strive to build bonds with people in order to build a better product and surround ourselves with people to complement our weaknesses.

This is the mindset we need to have when we are working with Data. An open and curious mind. Be curious about people around you. Care about them. See and understand not only data, but also people.