Mia Schaubhut

Primary reason I applied to Stanford and what I enjoy most about it so far: I applied to Stanford because I wanted an opportunity to explore academic areas I had never had exposure/access to before, whether that be in STEM or humanities/ social sciences. Although I have an interest in studying education policy, I hope to take advantage of Stanford’s engineering courses, such as exploring computer science or MS&E. There is abundant opportunity to explore the intersection of many disciplines as well. So far, I have enjoyed the connections I had made with my professors the most. I encourage anyone coming to Stanford to apply to Intro Seminars. It has been a delight to get to know my professor Jo Boaler, a world leader in mathematics and data science education. Beyond the classroom, I have been able to help plan a summer program to teach data science to high school students from under-resourced backgrounds, tried Thai food for the first time during a class dinner, and even got to meet her adorable dogs.

Profile Updates — Fall Quarter, 2022

• Pronouns: She/her
• Hometown: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Stanford Neighborhood: R
• Academic Interests: Management Science & Engineering, Education, and Data Science

Profile Updates — Spring Quarter, 2022

Favorite Winter quarter class: THINK 56: Healthcare, Ethics, and Justice. Although none of my primary academic interests are related to healthcare, the intersectionality of this course was really engaging. Some topics we explored were social determinants of health, organ transplantation allocation, and healthcare economics. In my final paper, I argued why nations should stray away from vaccine nationalism– the hoarding of vaccines by countries for their own citizens– and distribute their supply to countries with higher rates of COVID and less resources to treat their patients. 

Spring quarter class I think I’ll enjoy the most: I was admitted into Dr. Widom’s intro-seminar CS46N: Data-Driven Decisions and Discoveries. This course will explore the data science pipeline– from acquisition to analysis. I will probably enjoy this course the most because I will learn how to utilize tools and techniques for working with data, including spreadsheets, data visualization systems, SQL, and machine learning. Data is the oil of the 21st century so knowing how to organize and interpret it is essential for society. 

The most amazing experience I had this past summer and what I'm looking forward to most during my sophomore year at Stanford

Fall Quarter, 2022

This past summer, I was a project coordinator for Uber Technologies across their Global Support Operations division. I supported the Global Content, Strategy & Planning, and Learning & Development teams. Before, I had never had exposure to the corporate/ tech world, and Uber's warm welcome and collaborative culture was the perfect introduction. As a project coordinator, I was able to attend team meetings and express interest in certain projects, strategize solutions to communicative and operational problems, and network with members of the company. The internship was a remote position, but I was able to travel to Uber's offices in New York City for two weeks. The highlight of the trip was exploring the city with the other two interns (one was also a Stanford FLI student :D)! This industry experience allowed me to narrow down my academic interests as well, offering a glimpse of how the skills I learn during my undergraduate career will be transferrable post-graduation.

What I'm looking forward to most during my sophomore year at Stanford

During my sophomore year at Stanford, I am most looking forward to finally declaring my major! As I begin to narrow down my interests, my two majors of interest are: MS&E and Data Science! As for my minor, I plan to declare Education! I'm interested in the intersection of data science and public-school education systems. Specifically, I'm interested to research how public schools can best leverage student performance data to optimize educational outcomes.

During the fall quarter, I am a Recruitment & Admissions intern for Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA). I am excited and grateful to give back to the community and organization that has afforded me great opportunity, a supportive community, and scholarship. As a first-generation & low-income student from the rural south, organizations such as LEDA are essential for catalyzing change in the lives of students who strive to reach higher education but without the resources to do so.

After the conclusion of my internship, I also hope to become more active in Stanford Women in Business (SWIB), Data and Mapping Society (DAMS), and Stanford Consult Your Community! All of these clubs / organizations work on really cool projects with real impact, and clubs are a great way of meeting new people across campus.

Over the past year at Stanford, I have accumulated a long bucket list of beautiful sights around northern California to visit. I am looking forward to visiting Yosemite, Point Bonita Lighthouse, Pulgas Water Temple, and more! Before the start of fall quarter, I completed a cross-country road trip, stopping to visit the Grand Canyon for the first time. This ignited my passion for exploring while having the opportunity to live out on the West Coast for a few years 🙂

My most important takeaways from my first year at Stanford and how LSP relates

Spring Quarter, 2022

At a STEM student panel during LSP summer programming, an older student stressed one piece of advice: give yourself grace. At Stanford, there will be many times where you don’t perform as well as you would have hoped, but it’s important to remember you are trying your best. Instead of holding myself to perfect academic standards, I have learned to strive for growth in my own work and knowledge. 

LSP also taught me how to balance studying and class with growing friendships. During LSP summer, an environment was created where all scholars had to navigate balancing our first Stanford classes while living and interacting with new people. Some time would have to be dedicated to working on assignments in anticipation of allowing time to hangout and explore campus. One of my most important takeaways from my first year at Stanford is to always make time for your friends and nurture those relationships most important to you, for they are the ones who will get you through each quarter and have something to look forward to. Over Easter weekend, my two closest friends and I will be going to my hometown for their first ever crawfish boil. I’m excited to share some of my Louisiana traditions with them. 

My priorities for the summer ahead

I have received an Education & Youth Development/ Cardinal Quarter Summer fellowship from the Haas Center to partner with Youcubed, a math education organization here at Stanford. Youcubed is co-founded by Dr. Jo Boaler, the professor of my intro-seminar from the Fall quarter, so I am ecstatic to continue working with her. I will be staffing her data science summer camp for high school students in the San Jose area. At the camp, I will serve as a mentor for students taking the coursework alongside them and aid them in working with data. My main priority is to foster a welcoming community for the high school participants to be a part of, for this may be their first experience working with data and with other students from other schools. 

Besides the Haas fellowship, I am prioritizing spending time with my family back home this summer. After completing my first three quarters at Stanford, I have spent the majority of the year across the country with my family. Although Stanford somewhat has a student culture of always being “on the grind,” I want to make time for myself to recharge and process the completion of my freshman year.