When I was in college deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up, I had no idea that data visualization was even a thing. It wasn’t yet a major or a discipline, and it certainly wasn’t something to which young minds might aspire. I loved the beauty of outer space, and it turned out I was pretty darn good at math, so I decided to pursue physics to study the makeup of the universe.
For those who might not know, physics is really hard, and you basically can’t do physics as a career unless you get a PhD. After spending 25 years as an A student, I landed squarely on academic probation after my very first term of graduate school, with two Cs and a C- in my three classes.
Thus began a bit of an existential crisis, and after two years of torment, I realized I had turned into the type of graduate student I’d seen all throughout my college career—the one who hates their department, hates their work, hates physics in general, and ultimately hates themselves—even though I’d vowed that would never be me. I decided to finish out my third year of grad school with a master’s degree instead of continuing to pursue a PhD, and then I would “go into Industry” to make money and be happy. (Spoiler: Missions accomplished!)