FE
Personal Publication • Field Notes & Explorations
25 Entries Published

Notes, origins & rabbit holes.

A space for writing about technology, artificial intelligence, startups, research, creativity and the origins of everyday products and inventions.

EssaysShort reflectionsResearch notesExperimentsThings I have learnedInteresting discoveries
Freda Efod deep in thought
Published Notes & Reflections

From the archive

Some Career Moves Fail Before They Even Start—Because of the Myths We Believe
EssaysAugust 16, 2025

Some Career Moves Fail Before They Even Start—Because of the Myths We Believe

Unpacking three career myths: throwing away your experience, waiting for a perfect plan, and why every pivot builds on the foundation you already carry.

Essay
Academic Leaders Who Truly Show Up for Their Students — Dr. Adeniyi Akanni (PhD)
Field NotesApril 30, 2025

Academic Leaders Who Truly Show Up for Their Students — Dr. Adeniyi Akanni (PhD)

Having an HOD who champions student innovation outside the traditional classroom is rare. Why Dr. Adeniyi Akanni giving us room to fly made all the difference.

Short Reflection
I Wasn't Always the "Tech Girl" Organizing Events on Campus
How Things Came To BeApril 28, 2025

I Wasn't Always the "Tech Girl" Organizing Events on Campus

How one small step—contesting for Pioneer PRO in NACOS during late 200 level—led to becoming Community Lead and then Organizer of GDG on Campus Caleb University.

Essay
Let's Talk About Starting Over (Again): Why Rebuilding Brings Clarity
The Rabbit HoleApril 12, 2025

Let's Talk About Starting Over (Again): Why Rebuilding Brings Clarity

After writing three chapters, I had to restart my final-year project 8 weeks before defense—and that pivot led me down a medical rabbit hole into Coronary Artery Disease prediction.

Research Note
Why I've Been a Little Quiet Lately...
Field NotesApril 4, 2025

Why I've Been a Little Quiet Lately...

Final semester means final push: going 100% all-in on final-year Computer Science exams and researching early diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease.

Short Reflection
"Those Who Honor Me I Will Honor..." — On Leadership & My GDG Core Team ❤️
Field NotesFebruary 22, 2025

"Those Who Honor Me I Will Honor..." — On Leadership & My GDG Core Team ❤️

Two weeks after my birthday, my GDG on Campus Caleb University core team called me outside and surprised me with a framed portrait—a reminder of why we lead with heart.

Short Reflection
🚀 K-Means Clustering: Finding Hidden Patterns Without Labels
The Rabbit HoleFebruary 18, 2025

🚀 K-Means Clustering: Finding Hidden Patterns Without Labels

Data isn't always neatly labelled. How K-Means clustering discovers hidden patterns on its own—and why an absurdly simple algorithm became a machine learning staple.

Research Note
Nobody told me this about data…
Field NotesFebruary 11, 2025

Nobody told me this about data…

When I first got into data, I thought it was all about mastering Python, SQL and Power BI. Here is why numbers don't speak for themselves—and why curiosity beats everything.

Essay
Excel vs. AI: What People Think vs. What's Actually True
The Rabbit HoleFebruary 10, 2025

Excel vs. AI: What People Think vs. What's Actually True

"If you can't do the task manually in Excel, you don't have the mental framework for AI to help you." Why AI is a multiplier for foundational data skills, not a replacement.

Essay
The Problem with Trying Again.....
Field NotesFebruary 7, 2025

The Problem with Trying Again.....

When your dataset says humans are 12,000 years old and Kaggle throws error after error: why endurance is just as important as competence.

Short Reflection
You Are What You Listen To 🎧
The Rabbit HoleFebruary 6, 2025

You Are What You Listen To 🎧

From Joma Tech, Nicholas T and Zach Star on YouTube to DataCamp's DataFramed podcast—how what we listen to shapes how we see data as storytelling, leadership and impact.

Discovery
Could Predictive Analytics Be the Future?!!
The Rabbit HoleFebruary 5, 2025

Could Predictive Analytics Be the Future?!!

Descriptive analytics tells us what happened and diagnostic analytics explains why—but predictive and prescriptive analytics are shifting organizations toward real-time, proactive decisions.

Research Note
Garbage In, Garbage Out: Why Data Is the Nutrition of Artificial Intelligence
The Rabbit HoleFebruary 3, 2025

Garbage In, Garbage Out: Why Data Is the Nutrition of Artificial Intelligence

"Data is the nutrition of artificial intelligence. When an AI eats junk food, it's not going to perform well." — How a simple Computer Science rule shapes LLMs and real-world decisions.

Essay
The First 31 Days of 2025: SIWES Defense, Celebrations & Caleb University's First Datathon
Field NotesFebruary 1, 2025

The First 31 Days of 2025: SIWES Defense, Celebrations & Caleb University's First Datathon

The first 31 days of the year were a mix of wins and challenges—from defending my 6-month Wema Bank internship to piloting the very first Datathon in Caleb University history.

Short Reflection
Looking Back at Where I Started and Where I Am Now (Jan 2022 → Jan 2025)
EssaysJanuary 29, 2025

Looking Back at Where I Started and Where I Am Now (Jan 2022 → Jan 2025)

Almost four years ago, I had just finished SS3 uncertain about my future. If someone had told me then that I'd be where I am today, I wouldn't have believed them.

Essay
Please Don't ChatGPT Your Final Year Project
Field NotesJanuary 17, 2025

Please Don't ChatGPT Your Final Year Project

Take it from someone who tried using it for a chapter and couldn't understand anything I was seeing: actually do the work so you can stand behind your defense.

Short Reflection
How Do Large Language Models (LLMs) Actually Work? 🧠✨
The Rabbit HoleJanuary 4, 2025

How Do Large Language Models (LLMs) Actually Work? 🧠✨

There's more to Large Language Models than just generating text. From tokenization and word embeddings to generative pre-training and fine-tuning, here is what happens under the hood.

Research Note
What ChatGPT Did That Others Couldn't 💡
How Things Came To BeSeptember 6, 2024

What ChatGPT Did That Others Couldn't 💡

In November 2022, the world was shook by a chatbot. With thousands of bots already on the App Store and Play Store, what made ChatGPT fundamentally different?

Research Note
For an audience or For Me? 🤔
EssaysAugust 30, 2024

For an audience or For Me? 🤔

Living for an audience—whether real or imagined—is exhausting. What happens when the spotlight fades, the applause dies down, and it's just you with your thoughts?

Essay
Why I Pivoted from Software Development to Data 📊
Field NotesAugust 28, 2024

Why I Pivoted from Software Development to Data 📊

After spending over a year in software development—including six months in the ALX program—everything looked right on paper, until I discovered the spark of transforming raw data into visual stories.

Essay
🧠 Intelligence vs. Brilliance: What's the Real Difference?
EssaysAugust 22, 2024

🧠 Intelligence vs. Brilliance: What's the Real Difference?

"Being intelligent is good, but brilliance is way better." Brilliance kicks in when you mix intelligence with creativity and the ability to actually bring ideas to life.

Essay
Networking? Let's Talk About It 🤔
Field NotesAugust 21, 2024

Networking? Let's Talk About It 🤔

I used to wonder if 'network everywhere you go' meant handing out business cards to a random suya guy—until I realized how casual chats in class, at events, or at the BRT stop open unexpected doors.

Short Reflection
Perspective Check: Behind Who? 🧐
Field NotesAugust 17, 2024

Perspective Check: Behind Who? 🧐

When you catch yourself thinking 'I'm so behind,' pause for a second—behind who, exactly? There is no universal timeline for growth.

Short Reflection
Why I'll never miss a deadline again 😅
Field NotesAugust 16, 2024

Why I'll never miss a deadline again 😅

A 200-level programming assignment taught me a hard lesson about finishing early, waiting for others, and why timing in work and life is everything.

Short Reflection
Do I Really Need to Ask Questions? 🤔
Field NotesAugust 14, 2024

Do I Really Need to Ask Questions? 🤔

I remember a time during my first week at uni when I stood in a registration line for over two hours—only to reach the front and discover it wasn't even for my department.

Short Reflection