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Student Highlight: Yadira Bautista

  • published: 2018/09/24
Yadira Bautista

Full Name: Yadira Bautista

UNO Degree: B.S. in Computer Science

Hometown/State/Country: South Sioux City, NE, USA

Q: Tell us more about the Latin@’s in STEM organization! How did you get involved and what does your organization do?

Latin@s in STEM is an organization that strives to promote Latinx/Hispanic and other minority students into entering STEM fields and obtaining jobs in STEM careers. While we haven't been the best at maintaining an active organization in the past year, we try our best to try and keep students active, participating, and excited about STEM. We attend the national Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers conference every year in November, where members that attend can get career advice and go to development workshops hosted by employees of the country's biggest Fortune 500 companies. That conference also hosts a large career fair that weekend, where students can find internship and job opportunities. We also try our best to participate in outreach activities around schools in South Omaha, where there are large populations of young Latinx/Hispanic students. This year, we hope we can have more self-hosted workshops and speakers and a better outreach experience.

Q: How did you see UNO helping you advance your education and career?

Originally, I came to UNO due to the distance from my home (about an hour and a half) and the population of students from my home town that are also from UNO. I didn't give the opportunities available much thought until I was already attending UNO and I started hearing from others about the amount of jobs available to IS&T majors at UNO and the amount of support that we receive from the university and from companies around Omaha.

It's a puzzle, and I've always been a big fan of puzzles. There's this almost high that you get whenever you finally debug a problem you've been experiencing for six hours straight. That feeling never gets old. What better job could I have than one where I get to constantly look at puzzles and attempt to figure them?

 Yadira Bautista

Q: How did you decide on Computer Science? Do you have to really love technology to major in it?

The joke I like to make--with just about everyone--is that 80s hacker movies tricked me into thinking computer science was going to be more interesting than it really is. And, if I'm honest, my first idea of what computer scientists did was that of what your cliche hacker did. Ya' know, the person that types really fast on a high-contrast screen looking like they just stepped out of The Matrix. I don't have that idea now, and I guess I'm more passionate about computers because computers, and technology in general, never lost their shine when other things seemed to become boring, even as I grew out of childhood. There's always something new with technology. Things never get boring. Programming, specifically, is something that requires a lot of analytical skill. It's a puzzle, and I've always been a big fan of puzzles. There's this almost high that you get whenever you finally debug a problem you've been experiencing for six hours straight. That feeling never gets old. What better job could I have than one where I get to constantly look at puzzles and attempt to figure them?

Q: Let’s dive a little deeper into what Computer Science means to you. Can you describe it?

In computer science, we have this concept of "Turing-completeness". In layman's terms, this idea states that something that is Turing complete can fulfill any idea given, given the time and resources to do so. This idea is part of a broader mindset of innovation and creativity encouraged in software development and other fields in computer science. To me, my major means that I am able to innovate and create, given that I have the time, resources, and knowledge to do so. It means that I can attempt to create anything I set my mind to, even if it's not always easy. Now, this is a bit idealistic. There are simply some things that are impossible to do, either because the perfect algorithm would take longer than the human lifespan to fulfill or because the resources are lacking. Still, computer science, to me, means creativity, more than anything else.

Q: What class did you love the most, and did you have a professor that you learned a lot from?

My favorite class so far has been Windows Security Administration, which I took for my cybersecurity minor. I think, in terms of variety of content, that class had the most variety and was one of my favorites because we had a high level of responsibility when we were creating and maintaining the virtual machines that we used for the class. It was nice to have that level of responsibility and leeway to set up our systems and virtual networks. I think I've learned a lot from Chris Daniels and Dr. Gelfond, both of whom made their classes engaging and who emphasized the importance of the topics we are learning towards our overall knowledge.

Q: Do you have a scholarship at IS&T? If so, how is that helping you achieve your degree?

Yes, I do hold an IS&T scholarship. While I've held more than one scholarship at IS&T, the most rewarding is the Randolph A Walling Sr Scholarship. It is the most helpful in allowing me to focus on my education rather than being forced to take a job to support my education as well as my housing costs. I've also received the Phillip Schrager Foundation IST&E Fund Scholarship and the ACI Worldwide IT Innovation Scholarship. Both have also helped me support my basic education costs. It's nice to not have to worry about where money is coming from and instead being able to worry about the piles of homework from my classes.

Q: What do you do for fun in your free time?

I'm not very creative in my free time. I mostly like to read or watch anime. Sometimes, I'll get a writing idea, and I'll start building that idea on paper or typing it out on my laptop. If I'm having a fit of inspiration, I may try to learn something new, like a new programming (or spoken) language.

Q: Anything else you'd like us to know about you?

I like to hike, I guess? I was in Pennsylvania this summer for an internship, and I got to hike in some of the prettiest areas I've ever seen. It's surprising how much you forget you're scared of heights and you're too out of shape to be essentially climbing mountains when you're trying to avoid a rocky, painful death.