Mia Smith, a new math teacher, loves to prove mathematical equations as much as she loves to bike, climb, and hike in the great outdoors.

A 2016 graduate of Williams College, Smith was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and grew up in Ithaca, New York.

At Williston, she teaches precalculus and coaches the girls cross country team. During her college years at Williams, she was very involved in the community in and around the prestigious Massachusetts college. She was an active and energetic member of the school’s Outing Club, and she has rock climbed as well as led hikes in Vermont for multiple days.

Smith likes to tie mathematics and outdoor activities together, often by creating mathematic puns incorporating any number of adventurous escapades.

About her passion for teaching, she says, “Teaching math is something special, you are creating something, like starting with a basic postulate in geometry and then starting to build with it.”

“You get a chance to build a mathematics community,” she added. “You can prove new things and help students start building the mathematical world.”

Smith certainly knows her field: she is a co-author of an academic paper titled “Volume and Determinant Densities of Hyperbolic Rational Links.” The paper, about knot theory, will appear this winter in the Journal of Knot Theory and Its Ramifications.

Smith said she got the desire to teach while still in college. With an impressive resume already in tow, she hopes to one day start a mathematics school for kids.

In transitioning from college to “real life” as a teacher, Smith said the hardest part is adapting to a new place and community, but she’s found Williston to be a place where she can surround herself “with the best people who bring out the best in you.”