She Didn’t Fall in Love with Apps. She Fell in Love with How Technology Works.
Future 5 Helped Skyla Turn Curiosity into a Clear Path Forward.
Skyla Miranda Reyes didn’t grow up glued to a screen. She got her first iPad later than most kids, and at first she didn’t even like it. But while other people were focused on games and trends, Skyla kept asking a different question: What’s underneath all of this? What makes it work?
That curiosity became a compass. Today, Skyla is a sophomore at Gateway Community College (CT State), studying engineering science and preparing to transfer into a systems engineering program. She’s interested in mechanics, software engineering, data systems, and the future of AI.
Curiosity That Started Early
Skyla remembers being fascinated by the “Apple era,” when the world shifted from flip phones to powerful devices in your pocket. For her, it wasn’t about having the newest gadget. It was about watching technology evolve in real time and wanting to understand the why behind it. That drive carried her into programming, security, and AI long before most people were paying attention.
A Mind for the Puzzle
One of the things that pulled Skyla deeper into tech was an online mystery that worked like a giant, collaborative puzzle: an image, an encoded message, a clue, then another clue. It wasn’t about the internet hype. It was about the process.To Skyla, it felt like the same logic that lives inside code: If this, then that. Test it. Decode it. Try again.
Later, when “Hour of Code” came to her school and students built a simple Flappy Bird-style game using logic blocks, Skyla was all in. Even before she was writing full code, she could feel herself getting closer to what she’d been wondering for years: how systems actually function.
Where School Helped
Like a lot of students, Skyla lived through the shift from paper homework to Chromebooks and Google Classroom. For many kids, it was frustrating. For Skyla, it was an opening. She searched for every opportunity she could find, even when eligibility rules or life circumstances got in the way. And when she needed something real, consistent, and supportive, she found it through Future 5.
Future 5 Was the Door That Stayed Open
Skyla came to Future 5 during a difficult season in her life, looking for tutoring and support. What she found was more than help with schoolwork. She found a place that connected her to opportunities, mentors, and programs that didn’t treat her potential like a maybe.
Through Future 5’s partnership with Synchrony’s DAE program, Skyla found what she had been looking for: hands-on learning, a real tech community, and guidance that made growth feel possible. She describes it as a turning point, the moment things clicked into place.
Building Real Skills and Real Responsibility
Skyla doesn’t just talk about technology, she uses it. She’s built an app from the ground up as part of a startup focused on protecting privacy in images and video. She also uses AI in practical ways, like turning class syllabi into a clear calendar so deadlines don’t slip through the cracks.
She works in IT freelance, taking on real tickets, real systems, real troubleshooting. The kind of experience you can’t get from a worksheet. And through it all, Skyla has learned something important about tech: Staying humble is part of staying sharp. The moment you think you know everything is the moment you stop learning.
A Mentor Who Believed in Her
When Skyla thinks about Future 5, she thinks about people who showed up consistently. Her mentor Polly checked in, encouraged her, and treated her goals like they mattered. Skyla also speaks with gratitude about tutors who didn’t just teach, but cared enough to make sure she truly understood. That kind of support is rare. And it changes what students believe about themselves.