When I mention that I’m taking classes in the QAC department, I’m often met with blinking eyes and blank stares. Few people know what it is, or if they do they ask something along the lines of: “Oh, that <em>data</em> thing?” They say data like it’s some sort of disease that is not understandable or conquerable.
Data is far from a disease, but it <em>is</em> capable of spreading everywhere. Data are not static numbers on a screen; data are what is behind your favorite <em>New York Times</em> article. Data is extremely customizable and manipulatable and, most importantly, for everyone.
Despite those who have never heard of the QAC before, the department has been running at Wesleyan for years, and many now graduated students stumbled their way into their first QAC class only to leave with a career in data analysis. One of those students is Dana Louie ’14, who I had the pleasure of chatting to when she came to campus to give an info session for Analysis Group, the firm she works for. Dana’s discovery of the QAC happened through the QAC summer program, where she took classes in morning and then worked on research with professor in the afternoon. The following year, she was selected to be QAC tutor, and her fate in the department was sealed.
“People can succeed [in QAC classes] even with no background,” Dana said confidently, referring to the fear that keeps a lot of students from getting off the bench and entering the world of the QAC. When talking with my friends about by own experiences in the QAC, they often say something along the lines of “Wow, that sounds really cool. I wish I could do that.” I always respond with “You can,” just as Dana as saying. There are many intro classes in the QAC (QAC201, QAC211), and many chances to start to learn one of the programming languages.