Some careers begin with a profession, but grow into a wider purpose.
For our next #LouisianSuccessStory, Arch. Moreno looks back on the experiences that shaped her career and shares how the foundation she received from USLT continues to guide her as an architect, educator, housing professional, and public servant.
A BS Architecture graduate of the University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao in 1988, Ar. Moreno has built a career that spans professional practice, academe, housing and resettlement, and government service.
Her journey also brought her back to USLT as an educator, allowing her to experience the institution first as a student and later as a faculty member. Across these different roles, she has carried with her a commitment to professional growth, service, and the communities she works with.
Read her story as she reflects on a career that began with architecture and grew into a life of leadership, learning, and public service.
FROM ARCHITECTURE TO PUBLIC SERVICE: A CAREER BUILT ON PURPOSE AND SERVICE
My professional journey began in architecture, a profession that taught me to look beyond structures and understand the people and communities they are meant to serve.
Over the years, that perspective led me into a broader field of work—housing and public service.
I spent 22 years with the National Housing Authority, where I gained extensive experience in housing and resettlement planning, project development and implementation, program management, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination with local government units and communities. I eventually took on management responsibilities, allowing me to see the housing sector not only from the perspective of design and technical planning, but also from the standpoint of implementation, governance, and community needs.
My transition to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development further broadened my professional experience. In government, I have been involved in various housing and human settlements initiatives, including capacity development, technical assistance to local government units, program monitoring and coordination, policy-related work, disaster shelter assistance, and engagement with different government and community stakeholders.
These experiences have taught me that effective public service requires more than technical expertise. It requires adaptability, collaboration, accountability, and genuine concern for the people whom government programs are intended to serve.
My years in academe have likewise remained an important part of my professional identity. Having been a student of USLT and later becoming a member of its faculty, I have been fortunate to experience both learning and teaching within the same institution. This has strengthened my belief that professional success becomes more meaningful when knowledge and experience are shared with others.
Today, I look at my career not simply as a progression of positions, but as a continuing journey from professional practice to leadership, from teaching to public service, and from individual achievement to service for communities.
I consider my greatest success to be the opportunity to use what I have learned—as an architect, educator, housing professional, and public servant—to contribute to something larger than myself.
The foundation provided by USLT has remained an important part of that journey.
I may have built a career in different places and different roles, but the values with which I began remain the same: learn well, work with integrity, serve with purpose, and always use one’s profession to make a difference.
A TESTAMENT TO THE FORMATION AND VALUES OF USLT
My journey as an architect and public servant is a testament to the enduring value of the education and formation I received from the University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao.
USLT gave me more than the knowledge and skills necessary to practice my profession. It helped shape the values that have guided me throughout my career—competence, integrity, discipline, compassion, and a commitment to service.
These values have accompanied me through more than three decades of professional practice in architecture, academe, housing, and government service. I spent 22 years with the National Housing Authority, where I grew through various technical and management positions and was involved in housing and resettlement planning, project development, implementation, monitoring, and coordination with local governments and communities. I later joined the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, where I continue to contribute to programs and initiatives in housing and human settlements.
My professional journey has also given me the privilege of becoming an educator. After being a student of USLT, I had the opportunity to return to the university as a member of its faculty and spend many years teaching and mentoring students. To experience USLT first as a learner and later as an educator has been one of the most meaningful dimensions of my professional life.
As I look back, I see how the education I received from USLT became a foundation upon which I built my career. The profession taught me how to design and create; government service taught me how to serve and lead; and my experience in the academe reminded me of the responsibility to share what I have learned with others.
For me, being a successful alumna is not simply about the positions attained or the accomplishments accumulated. It is about carrying the values of one’s alma mater into the profession and allowing those values to create a positive impact on others.
I remain deeply grateful to USLT for being part of my formation and for giving me a foundation that has continued to serve me long after I left its classrooms.
I am proud to be a USLT alumna—and even prouder that, in my own way, I have been able to bring the values of USLT into a life of professional and public service.
To God be the glory.
MESSAGE TO STUDENTS AND FELLOW ALUMNI
To the students and fellow alumni of USLT, my message is simple:
Build your competence, but build your character with it. Pursue excellence, but never lose your sense of purpose. And wherever your profession takes you, allow it to become an instrument of service. Because in the end, a meaningful career is not only about what we become—it is about what we choose to do with what we have become.
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