Growing up in a family of humble means, Katie’s Mexican-born father and mother worked multiple jobs and her family lived hand to mouth. Katie spent the last 22 years in and out of college. After the death of her father in 1998, Katie started her first year of college; twenty years later, after supporting her mother who fell ill to Lyme disease and tragically passed away, Helen attempted to achieve her goal of completing her education.
Determined to build a career that could help my family escape poverty, Katie moved to New York City in 2010 for a fresh start. Upon enrolling in an Algebra class after her mother’s death, Katie found solace in math that she could never have believed possible. Katie is now a straight-A Honors student, enrolled full time and in the Peer Leaders Program. Katie is still working to put herself through college, and volunteering with her local Mutual Aid Society. Since returning to college, Katie has mastered the mathematics behind computing that once eluded her, and with the aid of our Education Fund vows to one day be able to complete her dream of earning a college degree, pursuing a career in Mathematics.
“My future lies in exposing those inequalities and evaluating them ethically and passionately, through facts and figures.” – Katie Salas