Basma Youssef

SPICED Stories | March 7, 2023

Link copied to clipboard!

Meet Basma 👋. She was working in Finance before she decided to follow her dreams (and overcome her fears!) of working with data. Having graduated from Spiced recently, she’s looking to use her newfound skills in her role as a Research Associate.

Hi Basma! Thanks for talking to us 🙂 Tell us a little about your educational and professional background?

Hi Spiced! I’m glad you reached out to me! I have an educational background in Economics & Islamic studies and a specialization in development policy.

I worked in Finance and Project Management for iNGOs in the fields of education, political mediation and violence prevention and also in humanitarian assistance mainly in the MENA region and the Gulf states.

What made you want to study Data Analytics?

I never worked as an economist and I really want to work in analyzing social and economic patterns and trends.

I was never an A+ student or a nerd which is why I was always afraid to apply to these kinds of positions.

However, after years of work, I felt that there are for sure many other tools that can help me in sorting and analyzing data in a fast and professional way other than Excel.

So, I looked for big data analysis programs and there I found Spiced Academy’s Data Analytics program.

Comparing it to the classic teaching methods of Universities, I noticed that this is actually how a practice oriented education should look like.

How was the intensive learning experience for you?

It was really intensive 🙂

Being a mother of 2 without any support system in Germany except my husband who has a full time job, this experience wasn’t easy.

Now I have to say that it was rewarding to me on so many levels.

How will your life change thanks to the course?

I hope for the best!

I got a job as a research associate right after graduation. I’m still working more in project management, but maybe I’ll have an opportunity to use my data analytics skills in our research practice.

What were the most challenging aspects of the course?

It was definitely challenging to study everyday from 10am to 6 pm after a 7 year break from studying.

We were introduced to a new topic every week, so it was very difficult to learn something completely new at a very fast pace and to be able to hold a presentation on it at the end of the week.

Preparing for a 5 minute presentation for each week starting from week 1 seemed very challenging at the beginning, but became a thing which I enjoyed preparing for every week.

What were your favorite aspects of the course?

My teachers were amazing. The course material was always interesting and challenging.

Do you have any advice for future Spicedlings?

Spiced offers many nice interesting programs. Read about each one and ask questions to know what’s right for you and your future career. Take the time to develop yourself further in the field you want to work in after the course. It gives you a very good insight and a solid foundation about many things, but it is also still up to you to develop further after the course.

How was your experience with the teachers and life at Spiced in general?

It was very good. We had 4 teachers for Data Analytics and everyone was different in the way they explained the material to us, but in the end they still talked to each other and worked together. It was obvious to us that they were in continuous exchange about the students, the material, the difficulties we were facing and the strengths and weaknesses of each one of us.

There was always something on the campus; either an event, a graduation or a party. It was always nice to see how dynamic things are on this campus.