The Design and Technology MFA program is full of energetic, unique individuals who work together to think, inspire, and create with technology. This series, by journalist Rachel Signer, provides a glimpse into some of the people in the DT division of the Art, Media, and Technology program who work that make DT such a great place to work and study. This one is about second-year student Tami Evnin, who is excited to be combining her background in psychology with her newly-acquired design skills.

What year are you? What did you do in college?

I’m a second-year Design and Technology MFA student. I studied psychology and linguistics at UC Berkeley. I took a year off after undergrad, and I was working a bit, and I knew I wanted to go back to school. I applied to a few different types of programs for human-computer interaction. I had good feelings about this program, partly because it’s in New York, and the freedom to study different things here.

What is your favorite thing about being a student at Parsons?

I like all the different types of classes and opportunities, the breadth of technologies and subjects that I can explore. Every semester feels really different. All the diverse backgrounds here make for a really interesting group of people to study with. Really cool things are happening here, and it’s exciting.

What do you like, and not like, about living in New York City?

I’m from Los Angeles, so I love not having to drive. I can get anywhere on the subway, any time of day or night, and get back home. It can be overwhelming here, being so busy with this program, and it can be hard to escape from it all. But, I also like being really busy, and having so much going on in the city all the time. And we’re nearby to other cities. Being on the East Coast is nice for me.

What are you working on right now that is exciting to you?

A class I really like is about databases – which seems like it would be boring and awful, but we’re learning the cutting-edge technology in databases. When I talk to people outside Parsons and I tell them we’re learning MongoDB, they’re amazed. It’s a new kind of database that’s emerging now, and it’s new enough that most people don’t learn it in school. At NYU or Columbia, in computer science, they probably aren’t learning it.

What’s something unique about your background the influences how you work?

I didn’t come into this program with a background in design or technology. I look at things from a different perspective – more of a “people perspective.” But learning the design and technology aspects is exciting for me, and it’s gratifying to know that I can keep up with people who do have background in that. Maybe the things I build aren’t as efficient or perfect as someone who has more experience, but my skills are strong enough to do what I want to do.