6 Powerful Coursera Courses That Changed My Life
Start your learning revolution today
Coursera is my favorite platform.
I was always hungry for knowledge. However, the economic crisis I went through in Argentina, my home country, didn’t allow me to invest money in books or online courses.
That was when I discovered Coursera.
There, thousands of courses are available (almost all for free) from some of the world's best universities and companies. I wrote about this in a previous post, but I didn’t elaborate on how exactly these courses changed my life.
These are my favorite six courses and how they changed my life.
1. Medical Neuroscience by Duke University
Interested in Neuroscience online? This is the best course to get started.
I took it back in my first year as an undergraduate student. It was life-changing. It is the longest course on Coursera, and Leonard White, the instructor, wanted to replicate typical neuroscience courses at universities.
So, if you want to learn Neuroscience at a university level, this is the perfect course.
How it changed my life:
It motivated me to learn more about neuroscience, and among other things, led me to pursue a Phd in this field.
2. Circadian clocks: how rhythms structure life by LMU
This was my first course on this platform.
I was sceptical about its content because I had no idea about circadian rhythms. However, I took it because it was from LMU, one of Germany's top universities.
This was way more informative, educational, and entertaining than I expected. It inspired me to learn more about chronotypes and write my bachelor’s thesis on the subject.
If you like Biology, this is a great choice.
How it changed my life:
It inspired me to work on chronotypes.
I got an internship at the best laboratory in my home country, where I studied sleep and circadian rhythms.
I wrote my thesis about this topic.
3. Data Analytics Professional Certificate Specialization by Google
I took this specialization of 8 courses 3 years ago.
Although this is paid, you can ask for financial help to pay 75% less. Of course, this option is for those who can’t afford it. Back then, I lived in Argentina and had no money to buy things in US currency.
That’s why I’m extremely grateful to Coursera for giving me a scholarship to access this.
This specialization starts from the very basics of data analysis, so anyone can start learning. First, you will learn what data is, then they will teach how to organize and clean data using Google Spreadsheets, a bit of SQL, Tableau, and R. Finally, you will work on a capstone project.
It is a complete roadmap from 0 to having a strong foundation.
How it changed my life:
It improved my scientific profile.
It helped me learn the strong foundations of data analysis, which led to me landing a job as a Data Analyst at Disney.
4. Python for Everybody by the University of Michigan
Python is powerful.
There are thousands of courses to learn this, but the one I liked the most was this specialization. It is from Charles Russell Severance, who is now a legend on the topic.
Python for Everybody teaches you from basic Programming to intermediate topics. It has many extra resources and code challenges to practice.
It is a complete program, so I highly recommend it. If you can't afford it, he has some YouTube videos available, but you’ll miss the code challenges.
How it changed my life:
It improved my scientific profile.
It inspired me to learn more about machine learning.
It taught me the power of programming and how it can be used for better science, new discoveries, and more.
5. Machine Learning Specialization and Deep Learning Specialization by Stanford University and Deep learning AI
These specializations were life-changing.
I always recommend the Machine and Deep Learning specialization, as I truly believe it was the best course I’ve ever taken. Andrew Ng is an awesome teacher who makes the lecture enjoyable and explains complex topics easily.
If you’re interested in learning these topics, this is the best place to start.
How it changed my life:
It taught me a new way of thinking.
It inspired me to create projects to study neuroscience, animal behavior, and conservation.
It helped me get a position as a PhD student and win a scholarship.
6. Mathematics for Machine Learning by Imperial College of London
I’m a Psychologist.
So yeah, I’m pretty bad with math.
Sadly, you can’t skip it when learning machine learning. Because calculus, linear algebra, statistics, and probability are the core of how these algorithms work.
This specialization by Imperial College London helped me understand how these models work. It consists of three courses: linear algebra, calculus, and principal component analysis (PCA).
If you’re a beginner with these topics, I highly recommend starting with this course.
How it changed my life:
Although I still have more to learn, it helped me understand how machine learning works.
It taught me the power of math and how almost any problem can be solved using it.
Ultra-learning saved my career.
It helped me learn anything without overstudying or overworking. But remember, each person has a different life. Perhaps you work full-time and also study. Or maybe you have a family, etc.
Be reasonable, and don’t fall into toxic productivity.
Here are some last recommendations:
Don’t compare yourself with others. Take your time.
This is not a competition. This is about you. Make it fun and healthy.
Please take care of yourself. That’s the most important thing!
Now it is your turn.
What are you going to learn next?
Until the next time,
Axel
This post makes me so happy! As someone who shares opportunities with students, I thought courses weren't something a lot of people were interested in. This definitely helped me as well others.
I look forward to trying Machine Learning, Mathematics, and Data Analytics courses. Thanks for the recommendations.