By the time she graduated from third grade, Katya Matsko knew what she wanted to do. At the ripe age of 15, she is making it happen.
Katya emigrated from Russia to Sedro-Woolley as a 7-year-old, dreaming of one thing.
"She told me she was going to go to Stanford to study astrophysics and work for NASA," said Sedro-Woolley High School counselor Jennifer Daley. "I believed her."
Katya is a gifted 9th grader.
Her counselor came across an elite summer institute at Stanford where the brightest young minds from around the world study mathematics.
Katya got accepted, but there was a catch.
The program costs about $7,000.
Katya's parents don't have that kind of money. Theirs is a one-income household. Her dad is a maintenance worker. The median household income in Sedro-Wooley is barely $44,000 per year.
And for a still unknown reason, Stanford didn't offer Katya any financial aid.
"I was crushed," said Katya, "but I realized there's probably people out there in more need than I am."
So, Jennifer Daley went to work.
She started a Go Fund Me page and launched a social media blitz to convince Stanford to reconsider a scholarship.
"I emailed people, I hashtagged, I called whomever I could think of," said Daley. "I just think she kind of deserved it. I just had the time and resources to put it into action."
And it worked.
The community raised all that money, and more.
But it wasn't needed.
On Tuesday night another email came from Palo Alto.
Stanford had apparently heard Jennifer's pleas and awarded Katya a full scholarship.
"We're still not exactly sure why, but I'm glad they did," said Daley.
"I just want to say thank you to every person out there for being part of my journey and for contributing to my success to go to Stanford," said Katya. "I just really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart."
Thanks to a community who believed in her, the sky is the limit for this aspiring rocket scientist.
"I know if I work hard today that success will eventually come," said Katya. "A wish can become a reality."
