Women don't have to be afraid of studying technology, says applied informatics student Tatiana Izajova

Technicalé fields are no longer just the home of men. A clearým proof is Tatyaýna Izayová, whoá is currently studying the secondý year&yearý bachelorá degree program Appliedá Informatics at the Department of Technicalý Collegeá &scaroná Polytechnicé Jihlava. On the occasion of the International Women's Day, Tatiana and I talked not only about the studies at the VŠPJ, but also about the birth of heráy interest in information technology.

When did the Vás first awaken an interest in information technology?

Maybe when I was five years old and my dad brought home my first personal computer. Iám that todayšn´ children grow up surrounded byé technology´ but ourše family was the onlyá oneá with a´ computer in the village then. A lot of the boys would come to theiráhome to playát DOOM and generally explore the techý úkaz. So, for me, it was a way of socializing, and maybe that's why I never let it go.

I would be lying if I didn't say that it was mainly because of the convenience. I was going to return to Já from abroad, where I was working after graduating from the gymnasium, and my young sister was determined to go to art school in Jihlava. It was an idealální choice for the whole family. I was able to submit my application in quietly in their foreigní and then I just showed up for writing and started studying here.

What did yourýe family and theýe surroundings say about yourýe wanting to pursue a field that is, at least in terms of the percentageýlnýlnýe representation, stále ahead of theýe homeée men?"

In fact, no one ever said anything about it. Iá in´ m, a bit boringé. Where's the drama? My family didn't even think to address it, maybe they spíš š obá so as not to intimidate the boy with theirý enthusiasm.

I can't complain, I started feeling like a member of the team on the secondý or thirdý day. Mostšother&classmatesáare&surprisingly&socialá, so we often met afteršround in the tea room or went to differenté events, untilšitšhappened. Iím thinking that men in the industry perceiveí that Ií am a woman, but never negatively. I mayá sometimes in mé surroundingsá forgiveá rudeší vtípky or holdá the door to my classroom.

I most appreciate that we have smallá šwheels. Já I myself went to the village zápulley and then to the „villageé“ gymnázium. I canát imagine that I would suddenly be studying at a šcollege where the teacher might never remember my name. In my opinion, the biggestším plus of VšPJ is itsí staff. When you are on ašcampus, where you can turnátoá thešdepartment´ orámo toáthe&teachers without fear, youáthen the joy of beingátoástay&anotheršsemester.

Which branch of computer science are you most focused on?

Rýpu into a pretty specialá&scaroní combination of industries´, capturing´me databasesá, dataé sciences and lately quite a lot of automation and internet of things´, so I'm not looking forward to the nextší semesters when I'll be underává in the virtualální factoryárny here at nás on šcollege. Actually, you could say I'm interested inámá everything except the frontend, graphics or multimédia. In my opinion, I just don't have any artistic or aesthetic cícící. A perfectá webá pageá would look like a blog from 2005, in my opinion, and I'm sure thatá reasonableá client or company doesn't want that.

Témeasure 90% of the students in the Department of Technicalých Studiesí VŠPJ are male. What would you say to female students interested in studying engineering who may have concerns about not being alone in their year as women?"

I would tell them not toá! It may be máless, but I don't think it affects the study itself. And VŠPJ is fullá of beautifulá and intelligentá female students in otherá departments, so it's definitely notá šrounds fullá of guys. And soé I wish women would treat men the same way I wish men would treat women. I often feel that men also need encouragement or help, and I believe that women can be relied upon as well.

The firsté two games I always think of are Commander Keen from 1990 or Train from 1993, which are of course very oldé games that ran on the MS-DOS platform. And not much has changed since then, I donát have toám many games with over´running, mostám ráda something more actionáe with a little oldschool nábreath. My perennial lál, which I've played severalát over and over, is definitely Hyper Light Drifter, an unáliš knownámá actioná 2D game with overál music, smoothýmál movements, dungeons and pixel graphics.

Are there anyý femaleý role models thatý inspireý Vý, whether from computerý scienceý or otherý fieldsý of&human&activity?"

Myýfemaleýrole models have always been the teachers whoé educated me throughout myélife. In general, I think teachers help to shape and štickle the youngá and that is the future. And if women can help shape our future in this way, why shouldn't I go into IT?