How a Coursera Course Triggered My Career Transformation: From Product Manager to Data Analyst
Late one night in 2022, I sat in my office, staring at endless Excel spreadsheets.
I had just transferred to the data analysis department. My daily work was copy, paste, copy again, paste again. I knew there had to be a better way, but I kept procrastinating.
Until that late night, when I stumbled upon a Python tutorial on YouTube.
A few lines of code accomplished what took me hours of manual work.
I stopped hesitating. The next day, I enrolled in a Python course on Coursera.
That decision changed the next three years of my life.
Change Begins with One Small Decision
ChatGPT transformed content creation in just six months. Midjourney redefined the design workflow. A tool can go from birth to obsolescence in one to two years.
In this era, continuous learning isn’t a choice—it’s survival.
But the hardest part of learning isn’t finding resources. It’s taking the first step.
In early 2022, I was still a product manager. My daily work was meetings, tracking progress, writing reports. Then my former supervisor asked: “You’re interested in data analysis—would you consider transferring to Business Unit Controller?”
I hesitated.
I could use Excel for basic analysis. I could create visualization reports in Tableau. But deep data analysis? That was another world.
Yet opportunity doesn’t wait. I decided to accept.
Pain Is the Best Teacher
After joining the new department, I discovered the real challenge.
Data volume was several times larger than before. Colleagues were used to processing everything manually in Excel. Every day was endless copying and pasting.
Looking at this repetitive work, I thought: there has to be a better way.
I’d known for a long time that Python was a powerful tool for data processing. But between knowing and doing stood a wall called “procrastination.”
Until that overtime night, when I finally had enough.
I opened YouTube and searched “Python data analysis.” When I saw those code demonstrations—a few commands accomplishing an entire day’s work—
I knew it was time.
The 30-Day Challenge
I chose Professor Charles Severance’s Programming for Everybody from the University of Michigan. This course has helped over a million people learn Python.
Then I gave myself a challenge: use Python to handle my daily work within 30 days.
The rules were simple: stay one hour after work every day, focused on learning.
No more, no less. Just one hour.
That was 2022, before ChatGPT existed. When I hit problems, I could only search, try, and fail on my own.
But it was precisely this clumsy learning process that truly internalized the knowledge.
After 30 days, I learned to automate report merging, data cleaning, and statistical analysis.
Work that used to take all day now took just minutes.
The Unexpected Chain Reaction
After learning Python, I thought the story was over.
But a bigger opportunity appeared—Minerva University’s Master’s program in Data and Decision Analytics.
This is an innovative international university, taught entirely in English, with students from around the world. For someone from Taiwan who had never lived in an English-speaking country, this was a huge challenge.
But when applying, I found my Coursera learning experience became crucial.
My self-taught Python experience proved my learning ability. Completing courses entirely in English demonstrated my language adaptability.
When I received the acceptance letter, I deeply understood: every act of self-improvement is a stepping stone to a bigger stage.
Connecting the Dots
Steve Jobs once said: “You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
When I first learned Python, I just wanted to solve work problems.
I never imagined that decision would lead me to a world-class data science master’s program, where I’d encounter machine learning, business intelligence, predictive analytics, and other cutting-edge trends, meeting professionals from around the globe.
In May 2025, I’ll complete my studies. The next step is transforming what I’ve learned into my own digital products and services.
Looking back on this journey, the most important lesson I learned is:
The catalyst for change often lies in a simple decision to begin.
You don’t need a perfect plan. You don’t need to wait until you’re ready.
Just do it.
