Samantha Peralta is a former foster youth from Downtown Los Angeles, California, majoring in Finance with a minor in Chinese. As a member of the Class of ’29, Peralta has been selected for the Arts & Writing Fellowship, where she is researching how STEM majors and the South Bend community can engage with the arts on Notre Dame’s campus. This experience has shown Peralta how education and creativity shape individuals to be “well-formed” and holistic thinkers. This semester, Peralta has been researching the ethical dilemmas of mass incarceration under the Institute for Social Concerns with Dr. Sokolsky, completing a 25-page research project on remote work in prisons in the state of Indiana. Her research examines how institutions like Ivy Tech Community College and Holy Cross College partner with prisons to help incarcerated people earn wages while also giving them the opportunity to work toward an associate or bachelor’s degree.
Peralta is part of the Thrive Scholars 6-Year Program, which provides college access, college success, and professional development for high-achieving, underrepresented, first-generation students. She spent the past two summers at Amherst College and the University of Miami, participating in the Career Development Program, which includes professional career coaching, case studies, and projects to hone analytical, quantitative, and communication skills. Peralta is passionate about foster care children pursuing higher education. She aims to explore various investments that can be allocated to college success programs and technology to support high school students and ultimately enhance educational outcomes for those in the child welfare system. Peralta has received notable scholarships, including the QuestBridge National College Match, HOLA Microsoft, and the Minerva Scholarship, which was hand-selected by her California State Assemblymember, Sade Elhawary.