My educational journey | Yunzhu‘s Website

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Jun 12, 2025

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How am I got here

When I look back at my educational journey, it all started in high school, which was one of the most competitive and well-regarded schools in Beijing. Many of my classmates were aiming for the top two universities Peking Univerisity and Qsinghua University in China, which naturally created an intense academic environment. Like every other student in China, I eventually faced the difficult decision of choosing subjects for the university entrance examination. While I was drawn to physics and chemistry—fields that explain the fundamental workings of the world—I felt limited by the structure of the system. Biology never quite captured my interest, so I leaned toward the more technical side of science, hoping to build a foundation that reflected my curiosity.

But reality didn’t unfold as I had imagined. The application system in China is vastly different from that in the U.S.—students don’t simply choose universities and majors, universities choose you. Once you are placed, it is almost impossible to change your major, and even if it is technically possible, the process is far more complicated and restrictive than elsewhere. My parents, with their hopes of seeing me in a more “stable” and “prestigious” career path, encouraged me toward economics and finance rather than the technical fields I had wanted. In the end, I was admitted to the Central University of Finance and Economics, where I studied international finance, economics, and risk management.

My undergraduate years were an eye-opening experience, but not in the way I expected. While the knowledge I gained was valuable—understanding how economies function, how finance shapes our world, and how risks are managed—it did not spark passion in me. I could see where the degree typically led: alumni going into sales at stock companies, working as bank clerks, or shifting into accounting. None of those paths felt right for me. They seemed far removed from the curiosity and problem-solving mindset that had drawn me to science in the first place.

When I began considering graduate studies, I realized I wanted to pivot. A complete switch to computer science or data science seemed out of reach at the time—I didn’t have the coursework or experience to compete directly with students who had been immersed in those subjects for years. Instead, I found a middle ground: marketing analytics. This field allowed me to combine business knowledge with technical skills, particularly in data analysis. Working with marketing data—customer behavior, pricing strategies, and product performance—gave me my first real taste of how coding and analytics could create impact. Unlike traditional marketing, which often focuses on creative storytelling or sales tactics, I was more intrigued by the numbers behind customer decisions, the models predicting their behavior, and the strategies data could uncover to improve outcomes.

Still, I knew this was only part of the picture. I didn’t want to limit myself to the intersection of marketing and business; I wanted to deepen my technical expertise and immerse myself fully in data science. Some people advised me against pursuing a second master’s degree in data science, arguing that my background in marketing analytics was already sufficient to enter the job market. But I felt differently. My undergraduate degree was rooted in economics, and although I had picked up some coding experience along the way, it wasn’t enough to give me confidence when competing with students who had been trained as computer scientists from the start. For me, pursuing a second master’s degree is not about redundancy, but about building the solid technical foundation I need to feel truly prepared.

I know some people might see having two master’s degrees in different fields as a lack of clear direction. To me, it represents growth and exploration. My first degree taught me to understand the mechanics of business and finance—skills that I still apply in daily life, from personal financial management to helping my family make sound economic decisions. My second path, however, is driven by passion: the desire to approach problems as a technical thinker, to work with data as a tool for insight, and to contribute to meaningful change through analytical solutions.

I don’t see myself pursuing a PhD in business, because the field doesn’t resonate with me deeply enough, nor do I want to compete in such a crowded space without genuine motivation. Instead, I imagine pursuing a doctoral degree later in data science or a related technical field—an area where I can dedicate myself fully, not just out of practicality, but out of genuine interest. My journey may not follow the most linear career path, but every step has brought me closer to aligning my education with my true passion. And now, as I prepare for this next stage, I feel that I am finally on the path that reflects who I really am.

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