I have thought a great deal about what I should do for my 2021-2022 i2 project. I decided that it would be critical for me choose a project that interested me in such a way that I would prioritize it and do my best work. While it could possibly change, my current idea for the project has to do with NFL advanced stats. My plan is to look into the deep analytics of the NFL and answer questions about positional value, salaries, and much more. I think that this project is a fantastic way for me to combine something that I have an interest in with a valuable skill that is necessary in the working world: data analysis. I also want to eventually create data visualizations on a website called Tableau.
This year I have a very difficult schedule in both my classes and extra-curriculars so I need to be organized and disciplined with my time. While it may be modified in the future, I am going to set aside a certain time every weekend to work on my project, along with some time during the week, on days with less homework. However, I am very excited to start this project and challenge myself. I think that the process of doing the work will be very valuable in the future as this type of data analysis is a sought after skill on the job market.
Lastly, for something that is related to my project, but slightly different I have joined a machine learning competition on kaggle.com. The competition revolves around using mass data from the NFL to create a new stat or way to analyze special teams players or plays. While this is definitely outside my current area of expertise or ability I have started to work through some tutorials on machine learning and creating convolutional neural networks. If I were to win this competition(which would be incredibly hard) I would win $15,000 and I would get to present this new stat to the NFL and it could possibly be introduced during a nationally-televised NFL game. While this is somewhat a reach in terms of my current capabilities I am looking forward to learning some new skills and giving it my best shot!