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February 24, 2015鈥擥rowing up in Houston, Texas, Maggie Hansen (C鈥�16) always had a thing for logic. 鈥淚 was that girl who got a 3,000 piece puzzle for Christmas and spent two weeks putting it together,鈥� she remembers. 鈥淚f you put me on a path to solve a problem, I鈥檓 not going to rest until that problem has been solved.鈥�

That love of problem-solving is part of the reason Hansen is majoring in 鈥攂ut when she first came to Georgetown, she was on a different path.

Initially a major, Hansen switched to math in the fall of 2014. Having worked in Professor YuYe Tong鈥檚 for a year, she realized something important: a lab wasn鈥檛 where she saw herself over the course of a career.

鈥淚 love science, so it wasn鈥檛 that I disliked the subject,鈥� Hansen explained. 鈥淢ath is a way for me to get the same type of analytical skill set.鈥�

But she hasn鈥檛 left science behind; now enrolled as chemistry minor, Hansen says that getting to know the department鈥檚 professors has been one of the highlights of her time at Georgetown thus far.

She also received a 2014-2015 Clare Boothe Luce Scholarship, the most significant source of private funding for women in STEM fields who are not pre-medical students. Luce scholarships are merit-based and support women with intellectual and professional pursuits in science, engineering, and math鈥攆ields in which women are typically underrepresented. The scholarship goes towards Hansen鈥檚 tuition, for which, she says, she is 鈥渋ncredibly grateful.鈥�

Hansen now has a goal to make the science community stronger on the Hilltop鈥攑articularly for women. 鈥淚t can be hard to find people who are like-minded, especially if you鈥檙e a woman in science,鈥� she said. That鈥檚 why she’s the director of marketing for , a new student-run organization that supports women in science, technology, engineering, and math. The group aims to foster a community of 鈥渨omen who love science鈥� and provide career resources and networking opportunities.

Stemme also wants to focus on promoting a community for all women in the sciences鈥攏ot just those who are pre-med.

鈥淲hen I was a chemistry major, people would always say, 鈥楢re you pre-med? No? Well, what do you want to do with that?鈥�,鈥� Hansen explained. 鈥淲e really want to get the word out that you can do a lot with science in addition to medicine.鈥�

Stemme currently has 11 board members and more than 100 members, and interest continues to grow. Within the next year, the group hopes to complete the new club development process and secure Student Activities Commission funding. One of its areas of focus is connecting with alumni and providing opportunities for current students to hear from those in STEM fields. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been looking at , and I think that鈥檚 going to be a great way to connect with people,鈥� Hansen said.

Hansen splits her Stemme time with another new student organization, The Caravel, an on-campus newspaper with a focus on international affairs. As design editor and webmaster, she聽manages the organization鈥檚 website. These responsibilities feed聽into her other role on campus as a (UIS) student employee with the web services team.

鈥淚f you look at chemistry and look at math, it鈥檚 a lot of figuring out how things work; I think that鈥檚 also why I love working in web services,鈥� she said.

This summer, Hansen will continue to put her analytical mind to work in New Hampshire as an intern at Informulary, a healthcare start-up founded by two doctors from Dartmouth鈥檚 medical center. The organization provides information about the benefits, risks, and uncertainties of prescription drugs. Along with a handful of other interns, Hansen will assist with data analytics by extracting, assessing, and compiling information from a wide variety of publicly available, but rarely used, FDA documents on drug trials and potential drug side effects.

Although you鈥檒l no longer find her working long hours in the lab, Hansen wouldn鈥檛 trade the experience and wishes more students had the chance to work with professors like . 鈥淚鈥檝e known people who want to get into research and don鈥檛 know how, whereas I just reached out and asked if I could get involved,鈥� she explained. 鈥淏ut I think Georgetown is really revamping the sciences, and more people will be drawn here as a result.鈥�

For her part, Hansen looks forward to helping Stemme grow into a full-fledged group before she graduates next year. The sense of community, she says, is inspiring.

鈥淎t our most recent general interest meaning, we were cracking these insanely nerdy science jokes and everyone was laughing,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd it was fantastic because I just wouldn鈥檛 be able to do that anywhere else.鈥�

Related Information

For news, events, and updates from Stemme, visit the club’s page, and connect with The Caravel for the latest stories: .

On the hunt for an internship? Maggie Hansen found hers through the Cawley Career Center’s iNet membership, an internship listing shared by Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, Northwestern, Rice, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, and Yale. Visit the  for more information.