A Storyteller’s Soul Trapped in the Body of a Data Scientist

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.

Marie Curie

Life is never easy, and my experiences have taught me that it never does get easy. The only way life can be made relatively more straightforward is by finding something that allows you to detach from the real world for a little while and immerse yourself in your dream world.

For a few years now, I am living with the reminiscence of my childhood days. I have the lingering thought of what wouldn't I give to relive those days, when a step forward was taken with the excitement of uncertainty and what was left behind was not looked at again. The past was the past, and the future was promising.

There were no worries in my innocent child-like mind. I was living in the moment. But the real world started showing its true colors as soon as I stepped into adulthood. It all started with expectations of studying hard, securing a decent paying job, getting married, having kids, and then die serving the needs of your kids.

I am sure it is not the same for everyone. I am envious of people who were not raised with these expectations. As a child and a teenager, I never got the opportunity to explore. I didn't get the chance to envision how my future would look like. I was parceled into adulthood with the above expectations.

I was happy with my life until the hardships came and made me think about life in a way I had never considered before. Troubles come across life in different forms. I faced them in the form of depression, anxiety, and detachment from work.

The first bout of depression and anxiety I faced was in June 2017, and it turned my life around. This is the month where I realized for the first time what I want to do in life. I am trained as a Computer Science Engineer, and I love it to the best of my capabilities, but my heart aches to write. I had written a few poems until then sporadically, but the long swim within my thoughts during depression made me realize that I want to write stories.

I was working full-time as a Software Developer in June 2017, when I started to write my first novel. Things were progressing slowly. I was distraught with my day job, but writing at the end of the workday kept me sane until July 2018. This was when things took a turn for the worse. I had to change my job in June 2018 because the earlier company I worked for went under. The work environment was toxic at my new job. There was no distinction between personal and professional life. My social life was nonexistent.

I realized that this job isn't working for me, and I want to quit and write full-time. I talked to my parents (who throughout my life have preached about a secure job) about this, naively thinking that they would understand and support me. This conversation went nowhere. I thought I would go abroad and study literature and make my dream come true.

When I tried this, reality slapped me for the second time when no foreign university was willing me to admit to a literature program because of my background in Computer Science. I took the next best option to study Data Science which was a step forward in the domain of Computer Science. This fetched me an admit, and I currently study Data Science in Germany. It provided me with two-fold benefits: 

a) I was away from the toxic work environment of my home country.

b) I will venture into a different domain of Computer Science which had made me stay afloat financially.

To my surprise, I am really enjoying studying Data Science, primarily because of my current part-time job and I have more time available to write.

My job allows me to incorporate the knowledge of Data Science in the field of medicine, specifically brain simulation. I am working on the effects of alcohol on the brain by creating artificial simulations. I have worked in the past on the effects of drugs prescribed in illnesses like ADHD on the brain. There is a sense of fulfillment in seeing the work making a tiny dent in the universe which was missing in work in my home country. I was expected to work like a donkey in my home country. Here, in Germany, I am treated like an equal even though I am a student. My ideas are listened to.

The best thing that happened after coming to Germany apart from this job was the number of words I have written. I have written more than 400,000 words in the last two years after coming to Germany. It includes finishing my 75,000 words manuscript, 200+ poems, 100+ articles, and 1000+ short-form social media content. I have even earned more than $2,000+ through my writing compared to $0 in my home country.

A day in my life looks like the following:

- Wake up at 7 AM and make the bed

- Put coffee and take a shower meanwhile

- Journaling + coffee

- Meditation

- Make breakfast

- Write 1,000 words

- Make lunch

- Study / Part-time job work

- Exercise

- Watch Netflix

- Make dinner

- Go for a walk

- Read at least 25 pages

- Sleep

I have tried and maintained this schedule for over a year and a half. This schedule allows me to write that fulfills my soul and work that allows me to make an impact through my analytical skills, earn money and progress my career as a data scientist.

Now that I am near the end of my studies, I will need to modify this schedule to incorporate a full-time job as a Data Scientist. I also estimate that I am about 3–4 years away from letting the storyteller's soul have the full freedom it deserves. I hope to handle those things as they come along by working each day.

Thanks for reading!