Mara Koval
I graduated from Columbia University in 2019, and am currently living in New York working as Chief of Staff at an EdTech startup, Coursedog. I’ve learned that I love scaling companies, and want to continue at early stage ventures.
PACE helped me to foster a growth mindset, providing the opportunities and resources to continue to challenge myself intellectually and in my extracurricular activities. The teachers and administrators in the PACE program exhibit an unparalleled commitment to their students that taught me the value of mentorship, and leaves me to continue to point to my time at Poly as formative. Creating documentaries for C-SPAN’s StudentCam competition in freshman year Government, and driving up to UCLA to conduct biomedical research as part of the senior year biomedical research program, are just two of the experiences that allowed me to explore my interests prior to college.
When I arrived at college one of the biggest transitions was the newfound free time and lack of structure in between my course schedule. While this can be a learning curve for many, PACE helped me to develop critical time management skills that enabled me to effectively structure my day for productivity.