Katryna began her pursuit of higher education by being awarded a choral scholarship and Army ROTC scholarship from Alabama A&M University where she would pursue a major in Social Work with a Minor in Music. While there, she pledged the Sigma Beta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta, Sorority, Inc. in 1995.

She would later join the United States Air Force (USAF) where she worked as an Operations Resource Management Specialist. Katryna spent most of her military career overseas in Germany where she would travel and study Law Enforcement on base at Central Texas College. She would ultimately go on to complete her Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice Administration and Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Leadership from Bellevue University.

After returning to the States, Katryna would make application and be accepted into the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University to complete her Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology. Katryna began her early career in corrections in 2006 as a volunteer in prison ministry and later as an intern turned employee at Central California Women’s Facility and Valley State Prison for Women. During her studies she chose Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a focus and would produce her final scholarly work, which she would author and entitle, “The Impact of Coping Resources on the Quality of Life of Individuals with PTSD.”