Ever since she was a young child Katie was a basketball player, a swimmer and a soccer goalie running from one practice to the next. In high school, she picked up distance running and yoga. An excellent student with a 4.7 GPA, she was admitted to her dream school USC where she joined Kappa Alpha Theta and was selected Finance Deputy for the sorority. On her 20th birthday, the USC sophomore lost her balance and fell off of her neighbor's balcony, landing on her back and head crushing the T10 vertebrae and creating massive brain bruising. After three and a half weeks in the trauma hospital, she was relocated to Craig Hospital in Colorado for rehabilitation. Her childhood friend, fellow scholarship recipient Jake Javier suggested she apply for a Swim With Mike scholarship. Katie received the news that she was awarded on her last day at Craig Hospital. Katie returned to USC and finished her degree, graduating in 2019.

She has been an active participant in the Swim With Mike family and returned for the 2024-25 academic year after her acceptance to the Master in Accounting program at the University of North Carolina.