I have neglected writing and I probably have a valid excuse although it isn't really valid since I write on this blog for my own. I get that others read this and catch up on what the Weaver's are up to but suffice it to say I have been busy. A few months ago I inquired on the ability to be a teaching assistant at school after getting this approved at work. This was mainly because in many of my IT related classes I end up teaching/tutoring others. One of the school administrators reached out to me a few months later and asked if I would have interest. I said yes. Then I got another professor that requested me to be a TA. I said ok. So, last module and this module I am a TA. I was also asked to be a TA for the Spring 2023 semester, but I turned them down. I'll speak to that in a bit. So, I am taking two classes this module. Data Mining and IT Strategy classes. Both have different ways of stressing you out. For my data mining, I was immediately thrust into doing math that I hadn't looked at in a long while. The class immediately picked up on linear regression from my business analytics class and I honestly forgot so many of the formulas. Example problems are like the one below
James, G., Witten, D., Hastie, T., & Tibshirani, R. (2021). Chapter 3. In An Introduction to Statistical Learning: with Applications in R (Springer Texts in Statistics) (2nd ed., pp. 131–132). essay, Springer.
So, when I got into this class I immediately felt I was behind. To add to the stress, Purdue only offers this class once a year so if I didn't do well I would have to wait a year to retake it. I was reflecting on the movie "Real Genius" with Val Kilmer and this once scene really really hit home for me this last week.
I had to reach out and get some assistance and tutoring. Once I got a refresh, the problem above was very straight forward and I was back in business. The concept of this course is to understand the math behind how calculations are done in tooling used for machine learning and then applying it in a SAS Enterprise Miner tool to leverage building models to best predict the future based on machine learning models that you tune. Once I had some tutoring in this I am really enjoying the class. The only positive in the class prior to me feeling completely overwhelmed was we had to select our own groups for a final group project and I had 6 people reach out and ask if I could be in a group with them. I ended up getting in a group of 4 so we will see how it works out. I was flattered that so many people wanted me in their group. I suppose I am doing something right.
My other class of IT Strategy is very interesting. I have dealt with IT strategy for over a decade being in management. This class is forcing me to look at problems outside my area of expertise and evaluate and defend a direction. It has spurred a lot of good online discussions with my classmates.
I submitted my intent to graduate in May 2023. I have been extremely busy and have decided that my last semester that I will not be doing any TA work. I told the professor that wanted me that I am happy to do work for him after I graduate if that is allowed. I enjoy helping others learn new concepts.
I finished and submitted all of my homework yesterday and did not do any school at all today. It was a very nice and much needed break.
<----- news update ----->
So - a shout out to my work family at the Houston Astros. They are once again in the World Series. My sister had the opportunity of going to the 1st game at Minute Maid Park. I was so happy for her. I told her it took about 8-10 years after I left the Astros for me to be able to go to a game there and not feel like I was at work. Anyway - I am so excited for the team. I am excited for Houston. What an awesome event to have in a town that has experienced such a negative impact from the Oil and Gas industry downturn. I am excited to see Houston electrified with the excitement that the World Series can bring. It genuinely makes me smile.
The kids are getting ready for Halloween. Ammon just finished a play at school that he performed in. He is naturally good at acting and I hope he continues.
Well - I'm sure there is more that I am forgetting. This brain dump has been therapeutic for me. So - I'm sure I will do more of this in the near future. Until then -
