Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

As I seek refuge from the sweltering central Florida heat, I pause beneath a large Dalmatian statue, glancing at my phone as my fleeting moments of freedom slip away. Soon, this statue will shelter families lugging suitcases, but for now, it marks my last stop before embarking on another grueling 14-hour shift at a resort pool.

Despite the challenges of working during a labor shortage, the upside is that I only need to work three days a week due to mandatory overtime. This leaves ample time for me to complete my data science master's degree and search for a job that does not involve spending four hours sanitizing rows of plastic chairs.

Reflecting on my journey before becoming a data engineer, I recognize the value of having a job during a time when many of my colleagues—30,000 of them, including someone in my household—were left without income. However, maintaining a positive outlook was difficult. The months of uncertainty fueled my desire to advance my career and apply the skills I had diligently developed over the previous two years, especially during a global health crisis.

If you've followed my writing, you might know that after witnessing the media coverage leading up to the 2016 election and working in low-wage jobs after graduation, I made the decision to pursue a career that promised financial stability. Motivated by my readings, I thought I could tackle the challenge. Having dabbled in HTML coding, I felt ready to enroll in a master’s program that involved two programming languages, advanced mathematics, and even a crash course in business management.

My employer, Disney, offered one of the best education benefits available, covering the cost of degrees from associates to master's level without any charge to employees. The only stipulation? You had to be a Disney employee.

Having just completed an internship with Disney and started part-time work at a themed resort, I felt a sense of direction was missing in my career. Thus, I applied and was accepted into an online degree program through a school in the Disney network. I excelled in my first course, an introduction to data science, which largely involved reading and summarizing decades-old research alongside a quick look at "machine learning use cases."

The second course, focused on Python, challenged me when I struggled to navigate GitHub's interface. Determined not to fail, I utilized the tutoring services offered by the school and dedicated countless hours to learning Python, from the basics to intermediate concepts—without even touching on machine learning yet.

If you're just beginning your journey with Python and already know how to write a function, congratulations, you're ahead of where I started.

A significant advantage of Disney's education benefit is that you don't need to be a full-time employee. I opted for part-time work and picked up remote writing tutoring jobs, knowing I could return to Disney for extra hours if needed. As my coursework increased in complexity, introducing regression and statistical tests, my day job remained surprisingly easy, almost mindless. Having previously worked as a boat captain, I was assigned to rent boats at the same lakeside resort where I had once transported guests.

The best aspect of this role was that renting boats was entirely voluntary. Additionally, during the winter months, boat rentals dwindled, allowing for weeks where we had little to no business. In a typical day of boredom, we invented our own tasks to appear busy, like "testing" boats with joy rides, or I would host rope-tying clinics for my less experienced coworkers. When we were done with these activities, we often had study sessions; while some would read, I would watch Python tutorials or complete assigned readings.

In a way, Disney effectively funded my education twice.

However, 2020 brought unexpected challenges. One of the few silver linings of the pandemic was that Disney's closure for two months allowed employees enrolled in school to continue their studies without interruption. Interestingly, being immersed in data science during this time provided access to diverse datasets and real-world applications of professional work. One notable data product that emerged was a tracker for COVID-19 infection rates, mortality, and recovery statistics, which I mirrored with a school project during the summer spike.

The online format of my classes enabled me to continue my education from both my Florida apartment and my parents' home up north. Even after being furloughed from Disney, I kept working and studying. The pandemic also led to a surge in the tutoring industry, allowing me to spend full days reviewing essays while balancing my schoolwork in the mornings and evenings.

While many discussed the need to slow down during the pandemic, my life intensified.

In the summer of 2020, as Walt Disney World began to reopen and recall workers, I received news that my boat rental position would not return, but I could take on a different role at the resort. Since my now-wife had yet to be called back, I accepted the offer and embarked on a year in this new position.

With Disney implementing stringent social distancing and sanitization protocols, my experience at the resort pools was both unique and frustrating. Grateful for employment, I endured long shifts that often reached 14 hours, which wore me down physically and mentally, making my data science coursework feel secondary. Despite my struggles, I managed to pass several courses without fully absorbing the material. As the job market appeared bleak, I questioned my employability as I approached my final semester.

Confronted with outdated course materials and exercises, I doubted how relevant my education was for the current job market. The most challenging course was project-based, requiring us to develop a project for evaluation before graduation. When it came time for my final project, I found myself starting and stopping multiple times, ultimately submitting a half-finished TensorFlow application that I wasn't entirely proud to showcase to potential employers.

Reflecting on my undergraduate experience, I regretted not having many work samples to demonstrate my capabilities. As I neared the end of my graduate program, I vowed not to repeat that mistake.

Despite graduating in March 2021, I postponed my job search for four to five months and spent another challenging summer at Disney. However, instead of feeling overwhelmed by mundane coursework or bleak job prospects, I gradually regained my sense of pride and motivation. As social distancing measures relaxed, I found guests were generally friendlier and more open to conversation than before the pandemic. When I shared that I had completed my data science master's, those in tech responded with genuine interest and encouragement.

Delaying my job search inadvertently positioned me in one of the most favorable job markets for employees in recent history. Even with only academic experience, strong work samples, and a few connections, I became a desirable candidate for companies eager to hire new graduates.

By the end of that summer, interview requests flooded in, prompting me to focus solely on preparing for interviews and negotiating offers rather than working at Disney. Ultimately, I accepted a position I found on LinkedIn without any prior connections—something I could never have imagined just five months earlier when I doubted the relevance of my skills and education.

Now, over two years since my last day at the poolside, I proudly hold the title of senior data engineer.

The only downside? I’ve lost my tan.

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