Graduating senior knows her facts. “Fewer than 60 percent of students in the United States who enroll full-time at a four-year school will graduate with a bachelor’s degree within six years,” she said, “and the challenge is even greater for low-income students.”
from Notre Dame’s , where Romero served as a research operations intern, only 26 percent of students in the lowest quarter of incomes will complete their bachelor’s degree within six years.
“How do we help increase that number, especially for first-generation, low-income students of color?” Romero asked.
The question is something that Romero, a first-generation student herself and daughter of parents who immigrated to Chicago from Guadalajara, Mexico, holds near and dear to her heart.
“My parents have always instilled in me that education is your way out of poverty,” Romero said. “It’s the only way to break the generational cycle.”
This belief led her to major in economics and minor in accountancy and data science. From there, Romero worked with LEO on a variety of projects, including a nonprofit organization in California called , which helps low-income students find scholarships and the necessary tools to complete their bachelor’s degrees.
During the summer between her junior and senior years, Romero became a , a student formation program through the that allows students from all academic disciplines to participate in anti-poverty work.
This particular work resonated with her own experience growing up and solidified her desire to explore developmental economics and data science to better understand how poverty occurs and how to mitigate it, especially through policy impact.
Romero, who grew up on the Northwest Side of Chicago, transferred out of her neighborhood school system to a different elementary school in second grade and eventually moved to a college preparatory school — both in a farther-away part of the city — in order to gain access to better educational opportunities. These decisions required commitment and sacrifice on Romero’s part, meaning long daily commutes by bus and train and even longer days, but proved to make all the difference in her educational trajectory.
“This story is common in schools within low-income neighborhoods, with limited resources, high student-teacher ratios, lack of enrichment programs, etc., and is a stark example of the socioeconomic disparities in public school education within large cities like Chicago,” Romero said.
“I wanted to get out of my neighborhood to find the best education I could in the city, and I don’t know if I would have made it into Notre Dame without that extra rigor, motivation and competition. It definitely prepared me for what I was going to experience here.”
In addition to being selected for two cohort-based programs, the and the , Romero is a , a and a match.
But Romero’s Notre Dame career was not all number-crunching and data analytics — she spent many memorable moments on stage performing with several campus dance troupes. She started dancing at age 4 in various styles including ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, Mexican folklórico, hip-hop, pom and others, and she continued this passion through , and .
“I love that Notre Dame has given me this space to keep pursuing the hobbies that’ve been a part of my whole life,” she said, “especially being able to tap into my cultural roots with Mexican folklore and Latin dancing and to be able to showcase that aspect.”
After graduation, Romero plans to work at a boutique wealth management firm back in Chicago. She said what matters most to her for the future is to find a career that aligns with her values and allows her to help the same community from where she came.
“I always have in the back of my mind — how will my career fulfill me and how will it help other people?” Romero said.
“This institution has provided me with so many opportunities that I don’t think I would have received anywhere else,” Romero said. “The University’s mission is to be a force for good — and Notre Dame really wants to do that for its students of low income and students of color.
“I hope others can see from my example that they are not limited by their resources or their beginnings — that they can go to a good college, have a great job and be successful.”