Rudy Rubio

I was very fortunate to have been introduced to the International Comparative Education program early in my undergraduate career at Stanford. As a Public Policy major, I had the opportunity to explore my education policy interests through classes at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, allowing me to meet students who shared their experiences and shaped my perspectives. I also engaged with the field by working closely with students and educators: I volunteered in nearby East Palo Alto as a writing tutor, recruited students for Teach For America as a campaign manager, and interned at an education non-profit in Amman, Jordan.

In trying to make sense of my experiences and contribute to the education field, I chose the MA program after considerable deliberation about my professional goals. While other post-graduation options would have exposed me to teaching immediately, only SGSE could adequately prepare me for a research and policy-focused career path. For my monograph, I investigated reasons why Saudi Arabian students perform poorly on international exams despite the country's high spending on education. Throughout the year, I learned a great deal about the short-term and long-term impacts policies have on students and their educational expectations, and realized that good policies need grassroots, user-level support in order to succeed. Although I worked in research for three years following graduation, I have always returned to this idea of connecting first with the people who are impacted by policy and who determine which policies matter: educators and students.

Recently, I decided to transition to a role where I can work directly with teachers and principals. Currently an Account Manager at BloomBoard, an edtech company focused on managing the evaluation and assessment process for schools, I feel I am pursuing the exact passion I found at SGSE. I could not have asked for a better university to pursue so many endeavors, as peers, advisors, and professors alike have advanced my thinking and compelled me to stay true to what matters to me.