Katherine was born and raised in Houston, TX, down the street from NASA’s Johnson Space Center. She started her college coursework at the University of Houston-Clear Lake with a focus on education and rhetoric of science, earning a B.A. in Literature (2011). However, immediately after graduation, she missed studying more technical subjects, and returned to school for a second degree – this time, a B.A. in Mathematical Science (2012). Having found a closer fit for her interests, Katherine began graduate work in discrete and applied mathematics at Sam Houston State University. Initially, she intended to pursue a career in teaching, but while assisting with a discrete course for computer science majors, discovered that she would prefer applying her analytical skills to the tech industry instead – so she flew out to San Francisco to attend Hackbright Academy! Now, Katherine has a strong interest in distributed systems and functional programming.