Embracing data challenges as a tool for change

I get asked all the time how to get real life experience when you don’t do this for a living. Many will say that you can do challenge work. I agree. You can also complete coursework. Again, agreed.

But if you really want to test yourself, develop your own study and see it through. That seems easy to say, but I know for a fact how hard it is. However, you have continued to ask, so I sat down and put my whole heart into writing this.

There is one area that I particularly care about, and to me it is the root of so many issues in society. Poverty. I know here in Alabama it is a problem that should be studied deeply, from every angle for every impact and outcome, and across all things.

Let me be clear, I have been “broke” – not enough money to go out to eat, or buy new clothes, etc. – but I have never lived in poverty. How can I care so much about something I have never experienced? You could say it doesn’t impact me, but the reality is that poverty impacts society, and I am a part of that society. Poverty is a human condition, so it should have an effect on all of us.

When I first started studying Early Childhood data, I found myself in a state of depression for at least six months. I had to learn professionally how to deal, as I found myself choking back tears in meetings. It was tough. One of the reasons I was so hurt is because I had not realized the level of poverty in my state. That ignorance was a privilege that I could no longer have. I am not naïve, I knew people lived in poverty, but I did not realize how much of it existed within 50 miles of me.

That wasn’t my introduction to poverty. That came by way of an HBO documentary called “Lalee’s Kin: The Legacy of Cotton,” which highlighted the Mississippi Delta. I had just moved to Birmingham from the ’Sip – what we lovingly refer to as Mississippi with other people who are from there  –  so seeing the hardships faced by people in my home state was a real wake-up call, and it made a lasting impact.

Do you want to know what broke my heart the most? Kids didn’t have pencils and paper for school.

Don’t get me wrong, there was so much more than that. But here I was surrounded by unused pencils and stacks of paper, and there are children one state over who did not have the basic materials needed to learn? In an instant, it changed my heart. It became a driving force for every data set concerning the children in Alabama.

So here is a challenge for you: Study the 50-mile area around you, and learn about the poverty in your community. If you can learn what is in that radius in regards to a question you define about poverty – it will change your life in more than one way.

If you take this challenge to heart and learn something – then I want to hear about it, and see your results, so you can use #ThinkDataChallengesForChange.

Here are a few prompts to get you started.

1.      How much poverty (determine the definition for your study and note it) is in my 50 miles?

2.      What is the shortest distance between poverty vs. non-poverty? (You might be shocked to find sometimes communities less than 5 miles apart are dramatically different.)

I know that I as one person cannot solve issues around poverty, but if I can get any of you thinking about your 50 miles then it might just impact your community. And I can assure you that in addition to learning more about what it takes to become proficient in data analysis, you will gain valuable life lessons and skills that go beyond that. And perhaps, play a small part in finding solutions for future generations.