Balancing Books and Code: Araoluwa’s First Win on Zindi

With no formal background in data science, she leaned on a bit of help from her family, took a bold first step into a Zindi competition, and came out in the top three! This is the story of Araoluwa Adewunmi’s first win on Zindi, in the Women’s Day Challenge.

Araoluwa is a college student studying Human Nutrition in Lagos, Nigeria. She recently discovered a passion for data science through her elder brother. With a growing curiosity about tech, she began learning the fundamentals of Python and data analysis. Despite being new to the field, Araoluwa recently placed in the top 3 of the Women’s Day Challenge on Zindi, her very first competition.

She discovered data science through her brother, who encouraged her to learn the basics and even walked her through her first few steps, teaching her how to use tools like Python and introducing her to Zindi as a good place to learn by doing. Araoluwa followed that step and signed up for the International Women’s Day Challenge., She spent hours researching, testing, and refining her approach using CatBoost regression and a five-fold cross-validation strategy.

“I saw the competition as a way to challenge myself and see how well I could perform,” Araoluwa says.

Despite the conflicts between her college studies and her new passion in data science, Araoluwa is determined to find a rhythm that works. Every day, she carves out time to learn, practice, and grow. Some nights run long, but the excitement of learning new things and seeing results keeps her pushing forward.

“Zindi has given me the opportunity to explore something new, and I want to keep going,” she says in a recent interview.

Despite Araoluwa admitting that data science still feels like a new world to her: “I want to be known as a data scientist,” she says confidently. “This is something I really want to explore and grow in.” When she’s not studying or coding, she relaxes with movies, Nollywood Yoruba classics, and sometimes Hollywood dramas.

Araoluwa’s advice to beginners? “Be consistent. Challenge yourself. Don’t be afraid to start.” She came so far in just a few months — just imagine where she will go from here!