Maia was born in Uruguay, but has spent most of her life in Oxford, Mississippi. Determined to understand how her passion for the Uruguayan national team (Uruguay Noma!!!) persisted over the years while the rest of her Uruguayan national identity faded, she opted to attend the University of Mississippi to partake in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College World Cup Initiative. The initiative’s focus on examining soccer and the world-wide event from multiple angles (e.g., history, sociology, economics) exposed Maia to the beauty of multidisciplinary study and led her to pursue a B.A. in international studies, economics and mathematics. Between her soccer passion projects and studies, she helped found and grow Ole Miss’ Dance Marathon branch, a student organization that has now raised over half a million dollars for the only children’s hospital in Mississippi. After graduation, Maia moved to Washington, D.C., to work for EAB, an education best practice research firm. Prior to her studies at Princeton, Maia dedicated her time to interviewing secondary and post-secondary education leaders about their top concerns, researching and analyzing existing practices to address those concerns, and presenting the most promising findings to member institutions. This past summer, she interned at The College Board in Washington, D.C., focusing on K-12 policy.