A Zoology Graduate's Honest Account of Learning Python From Scratch

A student with a zoology background shares their experience self-teaching Python through Kaggle's free course, with no mentor or peer support to guide them. Basic programming terms like 'def', 'drop', and abbreviations such as 'obs' and 'abs' proved unexpectedly confusing, not due to complexity but because the vocabulary was entirely unfamiliar. Unlike zoology, where the writer had mastered the language, coding required relearning how to read and interpret words before any logic could be applied. The writer describes a recurring gap between understanding tutorial explanations and being unable to apply that knowledge in practice exercises. This is the second part of an ongoing personal series, with the next installment set to cover the experience of encountering code errors.