Grace is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences pursuing a double major in Mathematics and Sociology. Drawn to the intersection of quantitative methods and social inquiry, Grace is passionate about applying data science and statistical analysis to explore sociological questions — examining how structures of power, identity, and community shape human behavior and interaction. Her arrival at Penn deepened this curiosity, exposing her to new frameworks for understanding the world through an empirical lens.
Originally from Denver, Colorado, Grace attended a Jesuit Catholic high school where she developed a strong foundation in reasoning, dialogue, and character formation — values that continue to inform her academic and personal life. Her involvement in Speech and Debate sharpened her understanding of rhetoric and persuasion, and how the careful articulation of ideas can shift deeply held convictions. This experience gave her an appreciation for discourse as a sociological force. As a teaching assistant at a bilingual elementary school and an English tutor for nursing students, she witnessed firsthand how access to language creates opportunity and inclusion. She learned that communication is not merely a personal skill, but a social institution with the power to connect, marginalize, or uplift communities.
Through her time with Paideia, Grace hopes to deepen her capacity for meaningful dialogue across difference and to further explore how language functions as a sociological phenomenon. She aspires to bring together her expertise in data science, sociological theory, and cross-cultural communication to better understand how social structures govern the way we speak, listen, and relate to one another.