When I started to use the data.table package I was primarily using it to aggregate. I had read about data.table and its blazing speed compared to the other options from base or the plyr package especially with large amounts of data. As an example, I remember calculating averages or percentages while at Saint Paul Public Schools and while the calculations were running would walk away for 5 minutes to wait for them to finish.
My first statistical software package I used as an undergrad was SPSS. I was fortunate during my senior year at Luther College to be initially introduced to R. I did not realize it at the time (except for the pretty graphics) that this was the start of something big for me. Fast forward a year to graduate school at the University of Minnesota and the majority of my program was again using SPSS.
This past August I took an opportunity to step back into the University academic world as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas. I have enjoyed the transition back into the academic world, including a more flexible schedule, variation in topics/duties, and collaborating with colleagues.
However, there has been some growing pains, especially regarding creating my own slides for the courses I teach. Although I am using the same books/curriculum used in previous semesters, I am making my own slides and adding my own pieces as I see fit.