Hawkeye Reporter

Coe College issued the following announcement on September 20.

Katie Krob“It’s exciting and kind of scary,” Katie Krob ’22 thoughtfully said.

A smile returns to her face.

“I'm hoping it's going to be a great year,” she added.

Katie has a lot to smile about. With less than a year until graduation, Katie is ready to make the most out of her senior year at Coe. Before this summer, questions about life after college followed her like a dark cloud. Fortunately, one of the hallmarks of Coe’s close-knit community is open communication between students and faculty.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life,” she said.

After a heart-to-heart with Assistant Professor of Mathematics Brittney Miller, Katie started to contemplate the highly coveted and growing field of data science. Katie’s love and appreciation for numbers led her to pursue a mathematics major which Brittney saw as a strong skillset to apply to data science. In fact, Coe launched a new data science major this fall to help students meet the growing demand to proficiently collect, analyze, interpret and present data.

Data science can be applied to a variety of fields which Brittney saw as a flexible perk for Katie. She recommended that Katie look into non-profit organizations after Katie mentioned her experience volunteering. An internship search ensued and Brittney took on the role of Katie’s internship advisor.  

“She's a big inspiration for me because she's the only woman in the Mathematics Department. She helped me when I didn't know what I wanted to do. I talked to her a lot and she really calmed me down and helped me figure out what I could do. She opened my eyes to all the possibilities in mathematics and the interesting work behind data science. She’s definitely a big mentor for me,” Katie said.

Katie was also comforted by the guidance she received on her resume and networking skills with Coe’s comprehensive career and community engagement center, C3: Creativity, Careers and Community. Behind the expertise of the C3 staff, who have helped Coe rank #10 nationally on The Princeton Review list of Best Schools for Internships among private colleges, Katie was able to correspond with an acquaintance her dad introduced her to in United Way of Central Iowa with confidence and landed a research associate internship.

The position played a key role in Oral Health Iowa, a new coalition United Way was developing to educate and advocate for the improvement of oral health across the state. Katie scoured reports to compile oral health data. She analyzed sources provided by government agencies and translated the data using charts and data sheets United Way would show policymakers and other partners.

As the project lead, Katie found the impactful responsibility of data and research. She was exposed to a variety of healthcare disparities evident in communities, especially those with low income households. It was laborious and complex work but Katie strived for perfection to ensure all Iowans are represented in the coalition.

“I was basically in charge of all their data. It was a lot of work but I really enjoyed it. It definitely made me nervous to hear my work would be the basis for the program for years to come. I reminded myself that I better do a good job. I was focused on putting all of the information together in a cohesive and understandable report. I appreciate that I got to feel important,” she said.

Her Spanish minor and strong writing background working at the Coe Writing Center proved to be an asset for her experience. Katie’s advisors at Coe and United Way are so impressed, they are encouraging Katie to present her summer research at Coe’s Student Research Symposium.

“It can be hard for the STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] world to communicate. There’s a lot of things like numbers and data and sometimes words can be difficult for people in STEM. I think my writing has really helped set me apart from other math majors and other STEM people in general,” she said.

Katie’s internship revealed data science is not only something she enjoys, but a glimpse into the real world of professionalism and office expectations. Regardless of the career Katie decides to follow, a strong support network at Coe including an active alumni community ranked 20th nationally for Best Alumni Network by The Princeton Review and resources like C3: Creativity, Careers and Community will be there to guide her through.

Original source can be found here.

Source: Coe College