The Mason Spirit

Mason ADVANCE student Sofia Escoto. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Office of Communications and Marketing

Sofia Escoto
Biology Pathway

As a student in the biology pathway, Sofia Escoto is clearly enamored of her subject, citing classes she’s taken in cell biology and genetics as further stoking her interest.

She joined the inaugural ADVANCE class in fall 2018 after graduating from Oakton High School in Vienna, Virginia. She knew she wanted to one day go to Mason, and she liked that ADVANCE streamlined all of her course requirements.

While she knew what field she wanted to focus on, she wasn’t so sure about her future career after graduation. Enter her success coach, Sharon Kim.

“I was talking about what classes I would need to take, because I wasn’t sure what I really wanted to do after school, and she told me to take a career test,” Escoto says.

The test suggested she consider a career in teaching. Kim then suggested Escoto work at the tutoring center at NOVA as an initial tryout of the field. “That’s where I work now,” Escoto says. “She gave me the idea to apply there.”

Escoto begins her first semester at Mason in spring 2020.