New to the community? Introduce yourself here! [October 2018] | Coursera Community

New to the community? Introduce yourself here! [October 2018]

Claire
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This introductions thread has been closed to new replies. You’ll find the newest introductions thread in the Networking & Social Discussion forum.

September 2020 update! Please introduce yourself on the new introductions thread.

Welcome to our community!

This is a place for Coursera learners to connect with one another and help each other achieve their learning and life goals.

We'd love to get to know you a bit better, please introduce yourself! If you're stuck for things to say, here are a few ideas:

  • Where you're from or where you live now
  • What you're studying
  • Why you're studying
  • What your hobbies or interests are
Coursera Community Manager
This topic has been closed for comments

755 replies

E
Userlevel 6
Badge +10
Well, I stumbled into "Sticky" and able to reply (vs Global Translator with "Sticky" and reply disabled) As a beta tester, I will let Claire decide what needs to be done.

Anyway, I'll follow Claire suggestion to introduce myself and tell you about John who grew up in HongKong and now volunteering in San Francisco. As of this week, I am studying Buddhism and Modern Psychology. A very good course and the current session is on Deeds without Doers, and Thoughts without Thinkers. Fascinating!
Also, I just wound up a Global Human Rights - TeachOut! I got to pose questions such as, with so many rights, what are human responsibilities? When individuals do not fulfill their responsibilities, what rights should be forfeited such that the rights would not be abused.

You can probably tell that learning is my hobby. I do have other hobbies too. My motto is, try anything as long as it doesn't kill me, cause anyone harm or make me addicted. Life is wonderful!
Denise
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Userlevel 7
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Hi @ele81946 or John? I follow your example to introduce myself too: I've been with Coursera since its early beginnings by takings many courses. I was invited to be a CTA, which then turned into being called "Mentors." I am mentoring courses on cancer and genetics and really enjoying them in addition to the mentor training program. I would have loved to listen those podcasts on human rights but that week and the weekend turned out to be one of the busiest for me. I hope to manage to look at the recordings later on. I totally agree "Life is wonderful" despite its hiccups at times all around... 🙂

PS: It says that you have 3 replies on your post but I don't see them somehow, ele81946. Do you see them? Or could anyone else see them?

[Moderator] Denise, I've edited your post to include an @mention so John knows you have replied.
Terry
Userlevel 6
Badge +6
Hi everyone,

I am Terry Ugonabo, a Learner and a Mentor from Nigeria. I am currently in Week 3 of Course 4 (Linear Regression for Business Statistics) of Business Statistics and Analysis specialization.
I'm mentoring Course 1 (Introduction to Data Analysis Using Excel) of this specialization.
I am very passionate about the design, analysis, and interpretation of data for studies in general and in particular for studies in Medicine, Public Health, and Business, with the aim to turn data into knowledge.

The world is moving quickly into a data driven world, where human actions are being predicted using data, where stock prices are being determined by sales data. That said, I have primed myself to pursue a career as a health researcher. I believe that the course will equip me with the necessary knowledge and skills to become adept at analysing data; it will also help facilitate research projects and further be beneficial to me in life.

With the help of Coursera I have learnt how to manipulate the spreadsheet and do a few tasks. I know that all my goals will remain dreams if I do not complete this course. Therefore, I am committed to working smart and looking for opportunities that could help make my goals a reality. I remain persistent and diligent until I reach my career goals. I am grateful to find opportunities like this. It makes me feel that I am not alone on the journey of accomplishing my educational goals.

Okay. My hobbies are meeting people, traveling, listening to music, indoor and outdoor games (card and board games, volley-ball, and cycling), learning languages, learning skills, learning all "learnables". I enjoy learning new things and saving them in my knowledge bank.

It feels so good to be here. All thanks to Claire and her team for creating such platforms and for making this community lively and fun.


Kind regards,

Terry.
Coursera Community Learner.
Claire
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +11
Welcome @ele81946, @Denise and @Terry Ugonabo! Thanks for introducing yourselves, great to learn more about you!

@ele81946 what a thought-provoking question for the teachout! Glad you got to participate, it sounds like an amazing event! Did they have a good answer for your question?

@Terry Ugonabo what a fantastic life goal! And this is such a good motivator for persevering even when learning can be really hard! Thanks for sharing.

"I know that all my goals will remain dreams if I do not complete this course."
Coursera Community Manager
Judith
Rank
It’s wonderful to meet everyone! @ele81946 John, I, too was a partnof the Global Human Rights. It was so amazing! One of my podcasts was in the Ideas Bazaar. I had written about how to help an immigrant who couldn’t speak any English. I told the story of a student who was ignored on his first dsy at school, since no one spoke his language and how devastating an experience this was.
I was a music teacher as well as the school’s gifted students teacher. You couldn’t ask for a better career! In both areas I could do anything I wanted as long as it was a success. I produced lots of concerts and won many grants and prizes with my gifted students.
My son put together a few education courses on Coirsera which got me hooked on this journey! I mentored his courses and have gone on to mentor people who are becoming mentors as well.
I naturally enjoy a good discussion, probably as a result of all my 40 years of teaching.
Meeting new people from all over the world such as I have at Coursera has been an amazing experience. I learn new things about everyoevery day!
I live in the US in a semi rural environment, a college town which has 5 different colleges in the area. There is always much happening!

Where do you live? Tell us something special about where you live, thanks!

@Terry Ugonabo, what kind of music do you like to listen to? Do you play any instruments?
Khalid
Userlevel 3
Badge +3
Hi everyone,

My name is Khalid, and I have been associated with Coursera as a Mentor to the PwC Specialization - "Data Analysis and Presentation Skills: the PwC Approach" course namely, Business Presentation with PowerPoint. Having been a mentor for more than a year, I believe I have developed my skill-sets largely. This is due to the fact that we tend to learn better and recall more when we think we will soon need to teach the material to someone else.

The PwC Specialization helped me to understand the Data Analysis and Presentation using MS Excel and Advanced Excel. At my workplace, I use a lot of formulas, and tips & tricks related to Data cleansing, Data analysis, Wire-frames generation, Analytical tools, and decision-making methodologies that I have learned from the specialization.

I am glad and thankful to Claire and her team for creating this platform, which would provide a new dimension to learner's community.

Regards,
Khalid
Judith
Rank
Welcome,@khalid . I know so little about your field which seems to be growing in popularity. It’s so wonderful that Coursera has given you the opportunity to learn about this as well as become a Mentor.
M
Userlevel 4
Badge +3
Hi everyone,

my name is Marcus, Learner and Mentor from Germany. Currently, i´m in the course "The Global Financial Crisis" in Week 4. I´m also a mentor in Robert Shiller´s course "Financial Markets", since 6 months. This was very surprising for me, because i never thinked i become a mentor here at coursera. My passion at the learning is Economics, Finance and the capital markets.

I was a beta tester, and i hope we can create a great community here for the coursera learners. I would say thank you to Claire for her investment in creating this community.

Kind regards,

Marcus
zohairshafi
Userlevel 2
Badge
Hello everyone!
My name is Zohair! I'm a computer science undergrad student from Bangalore, India. I've been learning on Coursera for quite some time and have completed quite a few courses, the most recent being the Deep Learning Specialisation by Andrew Ng and am a mentor for the second course in the specialisation!

My passions lie in data science and machine learning. Frankly, I wouldn't have come across the whole field if not for Coursera, and all the other mentors really helped a lot when I was learning, so a big shout out to all of you guys for helping other learners out!

Also, the new community looks really really good! Looking forward to being here more often!

Regards
Zohair Shafi
Paul
Hi All, my name is Paul. I live in Barry, South Wales in the UK, I'm retired now but was when I was employed a C.E.O. for a Coalition of Disabled People where I employed 100% Disabled People who work with Council Workers and others in the locality around where I live helping to make the areas round about more Accessible for all not only Disabled People but Non Disabled People alike and working with other Disabled People not employed that needed help socially doing things that they mayn't have realised were possible for them to do. Just before I retired I became a BSc. in Psychology and have since attained a Diploma in Sports Psychology. After obtaining my degree, I was told about Coursera by a friend of mine so to experience them I took several psychology courses , later followed by several Music courses. Music is a hobby that I'm interested in amongst my other hobby that I don't practice as much now, which is 'Amateur Radio' I live in a Sheltered Accommodation and am not allowed to erect Antennas and so if I do practice now it's using an internet gateway., ie internet to amateur radio. For Coursera I mentor the Mentor training course at the moment after I was mentoring courses relating to some courses listed above. Other hobbies include, Wheelchair Tennis, spectating now 😉 rather than playing lol.
J
Userlevel 3
Badge
Hi, my mane is Juam, I have been mentor for two years, and I enjoyed it so much!!

My mentored course is 'Seeing Through Photography" by New York's MoMa.

Paul, what a good surprise, I like the radio too. My father was a radio-man, he was a radio sports speaker..!!
Paul
Hi Juam,, Its a hobby that allows me to talk to people all over the world without the internet. I used to enjoy taking to people on Morse Code but that isn't used so much on the Amateur Radio bands now as much only by a few 'die-hards 😉
Judith
Rank
@Juam Berom , hi! We meet in so many wonderful places, from the hangouts, to the forums, to Slack, to the Human Rights course and now here. I am so glad you are still incolved in the arts, in photography. You still owe me a pastel picture of your beautiful flowers! LOL! To everyone esle, I had asked him to do this after he posted the most beautiful flower photo.
When you do an artistic drawing of something, you have to study it for hours, it’s a real art. Of course so is photography, but you tend to spend
less time taking a photo than creating a picture. So I understand why Juam would prefer photography. : )
Juam, all kidding aside, it is so good to see you here!
Terry
Userlevel 6
Badge +6
It’s wonderful to meet everyone! @ele81946 John, I, too was a partnof the Global Human Rights. It was so amazing! One of my podcasts was in the Ideas Bazaar. I had written about how to help an immigrant who couldn’t speak any English. I told the story of a student who was ignored on his first dsy at school, since no one spoke his language and how devastating an experience this was.
I was a music teacher as well as the school’s gifted students teacher. You couldn’t ask for a better career! In both areas I could do anything I wanted as long as it was a success. I produced lots of concerts and won many grants and prizes with my gifted students.
My son put together a few education courses on Coirsera which got me hooked on this journey! I mentored his courses and have gone on to mentor people who are becoming mentors as well.
I naturally enjoy a good discussion, probably as a result of all my 40 years of teaching.
Meeting new people from all over the world such as I have at Coursera has been an amazing experience. I learn new things about everyoevery day!
I live in the US in a semi rural environment, a college town which has 5 different colleges in the area. There is always much happening!

Where do you live? Tell us something special about where you live, thanks!

@Terry Ugonabo, what kind of music do you like to listen to? Do you play any instruments?
@Judith, well, the kind of music I listen to depends on my mood and sometimes situations determine it. I listen to all music genres.
For instance, I listen to Enya, Yanni and the likes when I'm about to sleep.
Hip-hop, Pop => when I feel like dancing.
I love anything music, I don't need to understand the language of the music as long as it's appealing to my soul.

I know how to use the tambourines, and some of my local instruments like "ekwe", and "udu". I played all types of drums when I was in high school. I was a member of the marching band.

I would love to learn how to play guitar and piano.
Coursera Community Learner.
Terry
Userlevel 6
Badge +6
Welcome @ele81946, @Denise and @Terry Ugonabo! Thanks for introducing yourselves, great to learn more about you!

@ele81946 what a thought-provoking question for the teachout! Glad you got to participate, it sounds like an amazing event! Did they have a good answer for your question?

@Terry Ugonabo what a fantastic life goal! And this is such a good motivator for persevering even when learning can be really hard! Thanks for sharing.


"I know that all my goals will remain dreams if I do not complete this course."
@Claire, Thank you for thanking me. 😊🙏🏻
Coursera Community Learner.
J
Userlevel 3
Badge
@Juam Berom , hi! We meet in so many wonderful places, from the hangouts, to the forums, to Slack, to the Human Rights course and now here. I am so glad you are still incolved in the arts, in photography. You still owe me a pastel picture of your beautiful flowers! LOL! To everyone esle, I had asked him to do this after he posted the most beautiful flower photo.
When you do an artistic drawing of something, you have to study it for hours, it’s a real art. Of course so is photography, but you tend to spend
less time taking a photo than creating a picture. So I understand why Juam would prefer photography. : )
Juam, all kidding aside, it is so good to see you here!

Haahahaha, Judith, don't hurry up about my photography work... I spent a lot of hours indeed, hahaha, I am kidding.

Thanks for your so kind salute Judith... I see you maintain a well being memory, despite your 'complains' in other threads.. !!
Mercurius
Userlevel 1
Badge
  • Where you're from or where you live now
  • A: Fl, U.S.
  • What you're studying
  • A: History, Politics, Psychology.
  • Why you're studying
  • A: To comorehend human being.
  • What your hobbies or interests are
  • A: reading, storytelling
Mercurius
J
Userlevel 3
Badge

@Juam Berom , hi! We meet in so many wonderful places, from the hangouts, to the forums, to Slack, to the Human Rights course and now here. I am so glad you are still incolved in the arts, in photography. You still owe me a pastel picture of your beautiful flowers! LOL! To everyone esle, I had asked him to do this after he posted the most beautiful flower photo.
When you do an artistic drawing of something, you have to study it for hours, it’s a real art. Of course so is photography, but you tend to spend
less time taking a photo than creating a picture. So I understand why Juam would prefer photography. : )
Juam, all kidding aside, it is so good to see you here!Haahahaha, Judith, don't hurry up about my photography work... I spent a lot of hours indeed, hahaha, I am kidding.

Thanks for your so kind salute Judith... I see you maintain a well being memory, despite your 'complains' in other threads.. !!
I still owe you.. yes...!
Judith
Rank
@Terry Ugonabo thank you for answering me. I am familiar with the udu drum, bought one for my son many years ago which he still plays. Playing percussion is wonderful! It’s not as easy as people think. You need a fabulous sense of rhythm and a lot of concentration. Last spring I played the calabash rattle as well as the iron bell for some musical numbers with a world chorus. Keeping that steady beat was so difficult. My part was syncopated which means I had to play on the offbeats. I just kept counting to myself and hoping I wouldn’t lose the beat as my hands tired! I hope you learn guitar. You will be able to make up good strums with your excellent percussion experience. I play guitar for fun, to play some of my favorite songs.
J
Userlevel 3
Badge
@Terry Ugonabo thank you for answering me. I am familiar with the udu drum, bought one for my son many years ago which he still plays. Playing percussion is wonderful! It’s not as easy as people think. You need a fabulous sense of rhythm and a lot of concentration. Last spring I played the calabash rattle as well as the iron bell for some musical numbers with a world chorus. Keeping that steady beat was so difficult. My part was syncopated which means I had to play on the offbeats. I just kept counting to myself and hoping I wouldn’t lose the beat as my hands tired! I hope you learn guitar. You will be able to make up good strums with your excellent percussion experience. I play guitar for fun, to play some of my favorite songs.
Woe..! Judith congrats you play the (¿chéquere?) calabaza rattle... !!
Judith
Rank
@Juam Berom Thanks. As a musician, groups know they can count on me to help when needed in the percussion section. But it’s not as easy as it seems. Thanks to Youtubes and friends! I carefully study how to hold these and how to get a variety of sounds from them. Two years ago I learned how to play the Egyptian doumbek drum. My hands can’t roll as quickly as I would wish, but it gives the music just the right beat and sound to make it sound Mideastern-like.
Terry
Userlevel 6
Badge +6
Hi everyone,

My name is Khalid, and I have been associated with Coursera as a Mentor to the PwC Specialization - "Data Analysis and Presentation Skills: the PwC Approach" course namely, Business Presentation with PowerPoint. Having been a mentor for more than a year, I believe I have developed my skill-sets largely. This is due to the fact that we tend to learn better and recall more when we think we will soon need to teach the material to someone else.

The PwC Specialization helped me to understand the Data Analysis and Presentation using MS Excel and Advanced Excel. At my workplace, I use a lot of formulas, and tips & tricks related to Data cleansing, Data analysis, Wire-frames generation, Analytical tools, and decision-making methodologies that I have learned from the specialization.

I am glad and thankful to Claire and her team for creating this platform, which would provide a new dimension to learner's community.

Regards,
Khalid
@Khalid, welcome on-board. Whoa! You've been a Mentor for more than a year? Good job! Well, I got to know of Coursera through a friend in June (this year), got invited to become a Mentor in July and became a Mentor in September. Like @Judith rightly said that the course is popular, I'm considering taking a course or two in Data Analysis and Data Science.
Well done!
Coursera Community Learner.
Khalid
Userlevel 3
Badge +3
@Terry Ugonabo @Judith Thank you for the acknowledgement.

I have been a mentor since a year and it's indeed a wonderful learning experience. New learners come up with doubts and presentation reviews in every sessions, and I get to suggest them corrections/edits based on the requirement of the Capstone Data Analysis Project and other issues related to the PwC Specialization.

Also, I have added this experience on my https://www.linkedin.com/in/khalidsq , and post about the updates regarding the courses related to specific events/days. Will be glad to connect with you guys there too!
Terry
Userlevel 6
Badge +6
@Terry Ugonabo thank you for answering me. I am familiar with the udu drum, bought one for my son many years ago which he still plays. Playing percussion is wonderful! It’s not as easy as people think. You need a fabulous sense of rhythm and a lot of concentration. Last spring I played the calabash rattle as well as the iron bell for some musical numbers with a world chorus. Keeping that steady beat was so difficult. My part was syncopated which means I had to play on the offbeats. I just kept counting to myself and hoping I wouldn’t lose the beat as my hands tired! I hope you learn guitar. You will be able to make up good strums with your excellent percussion experience. I play guitar for fun, to play some of my favorite songs.
You're most welcome @Judith. "Ichaka", that's what we call it - the calabash rattle. I play that too. Music was one of the subjects that wasn't taught well while I was in high school. The only instrument we had in our music laboratory was the pipe organ which no one played except our music teacher. Music as a subject was the most boring class and we acronymized it as the "Most Useless Subject In Class => MUSIC".

Music is the language of the soul and I'm bent on learning that Language! In the same vein, I joined the choir in my church in order to train my voice and to learn how to play the instruments. I'm an alto singer who's still learning the music notes and symbols.
One of my nephews plays the keyboard so well; he teaches me whenever I visit. I play the Nigerian's National Anthem (with a few hiccups). lol.
Coursera Community Learner.
Terry
Userlevel 6
Badge +6
@Khalid, you're most welcome. Let me connect with you on LinkedIn.
Here's my Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-ugonabo-3abab910b/
Coursera Community Learner.
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