And one more recurring column in the magazine is interviews. Today I'd like to introduce you to Polina. She's a middle backend developer at my company and is now also writing for CDMAG. For CDMAG#5, she wrote Messaging in a Fragmented Internet and received her own column in the magazine, which we called Core Lab.
I think Polina has a pretty interesting background, and I hope you'll agree with me.
Evgeny:
Hi. Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. Obviously, I've known you for a long time, but our readers haven't, so could you briefly introduce yourself? How old are you? What do you do?
Polina:
Hi everyone. My name is Polina Migel. I'm 21 years old. I work at an IT company as a backend developer. Basically, I work for Evgeny, whom you all already know well.
Evgeny:
I'd like readers to get to know you as a person first, so what are your hobbies? That's my smooth way of leading into Naruto😉
Polina:
For a long time, one of my hobbies was watching TV shows, mostly American ones. Then at some point I decided to try anime, and Naruto was always one of those titles everyone talked about. When I started watching it, I binged the first seven episodes immediately. I really liked the format — episodes are only about 20 minutes long. After Naruto, I continued watching other anime as well. First, I got used to the format because Naruto itself is pretty huge. Second, I just liked it: the art style and the culture promoted in Japan — friendship and relationships between people in general.
I've also always liked studying things. Not fiction, but specifically technical subjects. I never thought it could eventually turn into something bigger. But after I came to do an internship with you, I just started learning and reading things, and it all came so naturally that I kept doing it in my free time. I've always loved reading.
I also enjoy making things with my own hands. Back in school, I attended a beadwork club, and later in vocational college, I spent my free time weaving rings and bracelets for my friends. And it makes me really happy when they show up somewhere wearing the things I made.
Lately, I've also been playing sudoku a lot. At one point there was even a funny situation where I went to play sudoku but accidentally opened the calculator app instead.
And I guess video games also count as a hobby. In my free time, my friend and I play online games together — there's usually an open world where we run around and complete challenges.
Evgeny:
What's it called?
Polina:
[laughs]
Evgeny:
Okay, let's keep that a secret😉
Evgeny:
Alright then. Now let me ask about you as a professional. What does your typical weekday look like?
Polina:
Okay, from the beginning. I've always been a morning person — I love waking up early. In most cases, my most productive hours are before lunch. Usually, I wake up around 7:00 AM. After that I do some exercises for about 20 minutes, then take a shower. Then I have breakfast.
Before going to the office, I either spend time reading something — technical or non-technical — working on university assignments, or simply handling everyday tasks that need to get done anyway.
To be continued... ➡️
