Maria Reyna
Maria Reyna (she, her, hers) - Coding Mentor
Gamer. Foodie. Binge-watcher.
As a coding mentor at the Academy, Maria finds great satisfaction in assisting junior learners with their coding endeavors. She also takes joy in offering as much support and guidance as she can to help them grow and develop their skills.
Prior to joining the Academy she was a learner at the academy.
When not in the Academy, Maria can often be found immersed in the latest Final Fantasy game, indulging in marathon sessions of Grey's Anatomy, or simply enjoying a well-deserved rest.
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What would your fellow mentors say your greatest strengths are?
My coworkers would say my greatest strength is bringing humor into learning, patience and adaptability.
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If you were to offer students one piece of advice as they start their journey at the Academy, what would it be?
One piece of advice I have is to not get discouraged if they run into something they don’t get the first time, really work at it and seek out the resources to help you learn and don’t be afraid to experiment with different learning styles.
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Have you always wanted to work in tech? What is your personal history with tech?
I have always wanted to work in tech since I was that baby gamer amazed at what tech could do on such a small system. I have always been naturally drawn to using a computer and once I found out you can pretty much code anything you wanted the amazement grew until I found myself here.
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What was your experience with coding, tech, iOS, or entrepreneurship before the Academy?
Before the Academy I was on a high school robotics team where the world of code was first introduced to me, from there I went on to study Computer Science at college for a few years. Those years were really helpful to me in the academy knowing a little bit of logic in this code.
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What made you want to be a mentor? What are you most excited about?
I love being able to sit down with someone and help explain to them the thing they are trying to learn and see their face light up once they finally understand and get the code working. I also love having that conversation with them and seeing how their mind works.
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Where are you from, and where do you live now?
I am born and raised in SouthWest Detroit.