Women Who Reign: Jacqueline Moreno
“Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.” — Harper Lee
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Tell us about yourself along with a fun fact!
I received my B.A. from Wellesley College in Literature — my first love. It wasn’t until I was 22 that I learned my first programming language (Java) and became interested in Computer Science. At that time, I was working for L.A. County Board Supervisor Gloria Molina. Now I work part-time for Reputation.com‘s Data Science department while finishing my post-baccalaureate degree in Interdisciplinary Computer Science.
Favorite website / app:
My favorite website to use right now is Airbnb because the UI is clear and makes information easy to absorb quickly. I have a lot of fun using the site to find places to stay while I travel! I’m currently traveling around Europe while I’m here in Budapest, Hungary, studying abroad.
Someone who inspires you and knowledge they have imparted (if any):
Roxane Marquez — she was my mentor and Senior Communications Deputy when I was working for Supervisor Molina. She inspires me because she carries her own voice in the creative writing she writes; and she is very good at maintaining the voices of the people she writes for. I admire good writers like she is who can cross over multiple genres — I think her empathy for others contributes to that ability.
Song that makes you want to dance:
Always “La ley del monte” by Vincente Fernandez. It was a song my grandma used to wake me and my cousins up to when we would sleep over at her house. So it makes me feel extremely happy and miss my family in southern California — they are the funnest people I know.
Technical challenge you’ve faced and how you overcame it:
I had trouble with some coding topics when I first learned how to code. I got over this after a mentor told me that if I wanted to be able to do something advanced, I just needed to review the basics first. Reviewing the basics helped me speed up the learning process because I had a more solid foundation when attacking more complicated tasks. I know this solution seems obvious, but many of us forget about it when trying to excel as quickly as possible at a new skill.
Ideal Job:
Data Scientist, although I’m also currently interested in Design, so who knows?
What knowledge would you impart to women in order for them to REIGN their lives?
Maintain your focus — your end goal. Only stray away from that goal for the things and people that really mean a lot to you — life is only so long, and you want to make your time count.
