Karlie Kloss has been able to support herself and her family ever since she was in high school. Kloss still remembers moving to New York with her mom while she was still a teen, and the thrill of knowing she made enough money to pay their rent there.
Karlie Kloss recently told Glamour, “When I moved to New York all I knew about New York was what I learned from Law and Order: SVU. So I was terrified! We moved into an apartment above an Indian restaurant. It was surreal because even though I was young, I knew it was my working that allowed us to rent an apartment and be able to go out for dinner.”
“I was proud. My only other job had been babysitting, and my going rate was six dollars an hour. Suddenly I was able to take my whole family traveling. That was empowering.”
I think it's amazing how much @karliekloss has achieved and she's only 23!! Very inspiring!
— Lily Pebbles (@lilypebbles) August 3, 2015
So, why is Karlie Kloss going back to school?
“I don’t want to wait until I’m 30 to continue learning and challenging myself in new ways,” Kloss says. “I’m 23 and had a very busy point in my career, but I hope it’s just the beginning. I want to do it all. Like most kids starting college, my major is still undecided. Next year will be a balancing act-but how exciting! I haven’t written a paper in years.”
Part of Karlie Kloss’ desire to broaden her horizons comes from a class she took last year that launched a major outreach for her.
“Computer science and programming were not classes offered in my school, but I have always been fascinated by math and science and how the tech industry is changing the world. I even started learning how to code. Coding is the way our world is built. Whether it’s software or the human body, everything is communicated in a code.”
“Last summer I took a weeklong class at the Flatiron School, and I found tremendous value in having the ability to build code. So I started the Kode With Karlie scholarship because there are many girls in that space. My sister works at a fashion text start up in San Francisco — I think there are very few female engineers at many companies. I was always planning to have a career in science, but the general statistics around women in math and science are not very encouraging, which is why I think it’s so important to get more girls interested.”
While modeling has been her bread and butter, Karlie Kloss knows that it is not an avenue that all girls can take advantage of.
“I’m still wrapping my head around being a role model for young girls,” Kloss explains. “I do feel a responsibility to become an example for young women in general. That’s what Kode With Karlie is about: supporting girls to try coding even if they’re not interested in being a programmer. If I can inspire one girl to try it, I’ll be happy.”
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