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Discover the journey of Marlene Müller, a dedicated horse trainer with a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Luxembourg. After two years of teaching computer science, she embraced the opportunity to follow her lifelong passion for horses full-time. Marlene has been dedicated to horse riding and horse keeping throughout her life, and although she found fulfilment in her computer science career, her deep love for horses ultimately guided her to this transition. She sees her background in computer science as a strong foundation, offering versatility and security should her equestrian career face any challenges. Additionally, in her new role, she applies her technical skills by managing the WLAN network and camera surveillance systems.
My dad is a computer scientist who worked a long time in system administration and later in business continuity. Because of his work we had computers, laptops, a so-called personal assistant (the very early version of what a smartphone is today) and mobile phones at home. Also, on weekends when he needed to go to work for some emergency during an on-call duty, he took me and my sisters sometimes, so I saw server rooms and other fancy IT stuff already in my childhood. When my dad got a new laptop, the old one would become our play-laptop and he installed some games and some useful programs on it. I took a typing class using all ten fingers and learned some basic programming when I was around ten years old in
primary school. I continued to develop these skills in high school, primarily working on them at home whenever I had the opportunity. (Logo, it is a bit like swift playgrounds without graphics). In school, I was more into science subjects than into history, creativity or languages. When I graduated, I chose to continue my studies in Computer Science – like my dad.
I chose computer science mainly because it felt like I would have more job opportunities than, for example, in mathematics or physics. It was clear very early that I would go into science but I didn’t want to become a researcher. In my head, choosing mathematics, physics or chemistry meant that I could only end up as a teacher or a scientist. I thought with IT I could do different types of jobs so this is what I chose.
The people I see as role models are teachers who have a passion for what they do and manage to convey that enthusiasm in a way that captivates students, regardless of their initial mindset. For example, I had a math teacher in high school whom I would consider a role model because his lessons were structured and paced in such a way that it felt like everyone in the class kept up and no one was bored. I strived to emulate this when I was teaching by using simple exercises that help students enjoy improving their techniques, making more complex tasks easier as they progress. It is essential to find the right timing for each student, encouraging them without overwhelming them, as we all learn differently.
My younger self or someone that is now young? A lot has changed in computer science in the last 30 years. I think my younger self would have been excited about self-made smartphone apps and robot-programming.
I would consider the ability to think logically an advantage. Also, I think it is important to be able to plan and consider the different outcomes of an action. It is not necessary to already know how to program or have any experience in the field to successfully pursue studies in computer science but one must have the ambition to solve problems and gain knowledge throughout the studies (but I guess that counts for any subject).
I love my job as a horse trainer and riding teacher. I love to be outside and with the animals but sometimes I miss my computer. Luckily there is always something to do “in the office” to improve the workflow and I have some private projects that keep my brain busy. I like this balance between physical exercise and work on the computer.
I think girls and women that would like to go into science should do it in their own way and not be intimidated by the number of men in the field. In several job interviews that I experienced, one of the questions was: Do you see yourself working with a team of only men? My answer was that if they considered me as a team member and used my skills and knowledge, I could work with them. I was offered more jobs than I could take so I guess they could work with women as well!
Do whatever you want to do! Maybe I was lucky, but I haven’t met a teacher, student nor coworker that did not treat me with the same respect as the male students or employees. Now, if I talk about my studies and experience, people are impressed, sometimes surprised as horses and computers are far apart, but never negative or judgmental.
