| April 7, 2023
Are you interested in the DA-FANH internship? Hear from one of our data science interns and read about his experiences!
About Sufyian
Sufyian is a Chico State graduate who majored in anthropology with a minor in applied statistics. He currently works as a Research Assistant I for the Center For Data Insights. Even though his major is focused more on qualitative analytics, this internship allowed him to be analytical in new ways and gave him an opportunity to apply his degree creatively to the emerging and in-demand career field of data science. Although statistics, public health, and nutrition majors are ideal for this internship, it is an excellent opportunity for social science majors who are interested in working with quantitative data and doing behavioral research.
What Sufyian Learned During the Internship
Out of everything he learned throughout the internship, his skills using R increased the most. Sufyian had only started learning R six months before the internship started, and ended up feeling three times as comfortable using R programming by the end. This internship gives many opportunities to practice using R in a professional setting. This allowed Sufyain to sharpen important skills that are not often emphasized in the classroom like data management and cleaning. Sufyian came out of the internship with an extensive list of valuable things he could write on a resume and even a data project he could add to his portfolio Data skills are not the only things that can be gained from this internship, Sufyian also learned a lot about what it takes to succeed at a remote job. From communicating over Slack to scheduling Zoom meetings, this internship teaches digital communication skills, which will be useful for future remote jobs.
What Sufyian Enjoyed about the Internship
Sufyian shared that he enjoyed the unstructured format and the opportunities to work on your own projects the most about this internship. Even though the internship is technically a class, he says that it does feel like a job with the ability to work on tasks independently. He also really enjoyed the ability to work on a project from start to finish and produce a product for he portfolio.
What Sufyian Would Tell Other Students
“Whether you treat the internship just like a class or do it for the job experience, I guarantee you will gain something out of it, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested. It is a valuable opportunity for anyone who is interested in working with quantitative data in their intended jobs.”
Connect with Sufyian at his LinkedIn page