I want to be a data analyst. I want to tell stories with data, solve problems, make things clearer for people who need answers. But before I can do any of that for a company or a stakeholder, I have to do something much harder: hold myself together.
The truth is—I’m tense. I’m scared. I’m a middle-class person dealing with unemployment, and it feels like the weight of it is crushing me.
I don’t even understand why I’m always so tense. I wake up with this pressure. I go to interviews with this pressure. I sit down to study or prepare—and the pressure just sits there like a heavy fog.
And it’s not that I don’t try.
I do try to give 100%. I show up. I practice. I learn tools. I read blogs. I apply to jobs. But after every interview, it’s the same story. I mess up—not because I don’t know the material, but because my mind freezes when it matters most.
After every interview, my brain tells me:
“You did okay. You’ll do better next time.”
But next time comes, and I repeat the same mistakes. In the last interview, they told me I had a strong profile. They liked my qualifications. But my communication was poor.
That one hurt—because I know I can do better. But in that moment, I didn’t. Again.
Why Am I Writing This?
Because I know I’m not the only one. There are thousands of us, fresh graduates or early professionals, sitting in this in-between space—knowing we can be something, but not knowing how to get there.
We compare ourselves to others who seem under even more pressure, yet somehow appear to function just fine. I don’t know how they’re doing it. I really don’t.
A Job That Demands More Than Skills
Being a data analyst isn’t just about SQL, Python, dashboards, or Power BI. It’s about communication. It’s about being able to tell the story of what the numbers are saying—clearly, confidently, and sometimes, under pressure.
That part? That part is hard for someone like me.
But this blog, Insightsman, is my small, stubborn answer to that difficulty.
Every post I write is one small piece of practice. One more attempt at becoming better—not just technically, but emotionally and professionally.
If You’re Also in This Space
If you’re also feeling that same pressure, that tension, that voice inside your head telling you you’re not enough—you are not alone.
Let’s keep learning. Let’s keep talking. Let’s keep moving forward, even slowly.
Even if it’s just through one blog post at a time.
