I had the chance to speak with Jacqueline Alemany, 28, on her time at Harvard, and transitioning into the real world of CBS News.
Upon asking Jacqueline how she ended up playing college basketball, she said, “I was playing basketball since I could walk.”
Jaqueline attended Harvard for 4 years on the women’s basketball team. Although sports took up most of her free time, she still maintained focus on her major, government, and minor, Spanish.
During one of her first classes in Government called “Road to the White House”, Jacqueline was taught by a professor named Carlos Diaz.
Jacqueline reminisces, saying “It was one of my first tastes of politics and D.C. and campaigns, and I just remember loving it. It’s kind of one of the first things that peaked my interest.”
Fast forward past graduation, she ran into old professor Carlos in the Briefing room in The White House, who is now an advisor to Trump.
However, Jacqueline didn’t think she’d end up where she is now. She thought she’d go into finance, and started out at a credit card company.
“I loved the company and who I worked with, but I knew it wasn’t right for me. I was always passionate abut writing.”
Half way through her first year at her job, she picked up her belongings and decided to move on to bigger and better things- CBS news.
She writes for CBSnews.com as much as possible. “Writing is a muscle you need to constantly use.”
She is constantly writing different types of articles. “There’s spot news, which can take 15 minutes, and then there’s articles that can take a lot more time..”
Every day is different for Jacqueline- she tells me she had early morning shift today- 6 a.m. She’s constantly looking ahead, and looking at things like Trump’s tweets and actions.
I asked Jacqueline if working so many hours and writing so much gets old. “There’s not a thing I can complain about”, she told me.
“I feel like I’m in grad school, I get to learn so much every day. The hours are demanding, but it’s rewarding work.”
It helps that she is surrounded by supportive women. She says, “I always feel elevated and that my ideas are being taken seriously.”
Overall, Jacqueline says she is content with where she is at, and what she is doing. “I love being a journalist- I learn something new every single day. It’s a really inspiring job.”
I asked Jacqueline on advice on how to succeed, and to get where she is at. She told me, “My main advice for this job is to be confident. Don’t doubt yourself when other people doubt you. That’s been my biggest takeaway from this job.”
