Karla Saaveda Cabañas grew up in Minatitlan, a small village
on the out-skirts of Veracruz, Mexico with no idea that destiny
would lead her to McAllen, Texas some 17 years later. With her mother from Veracruz and father from Reynosa, at the age, they moved to Reynosa giving Karla the chance to pursue a college education at UTPA. She did well in school and with the help of student loans enrolled at UTPA to study business.

Like many Valley college students, Karla got a part time job at the
university to help make ends meet and in her spare time took up Folkloric dancing with the Mexican Folkloric Dancers at the university. Discovering one of the truly artistic, cultural dance forms has always captured her heart and she found it in flamenco expression. “It’s not only a lot of fun to perform but I find it a great fitness work out too. Flamenco is rooted in the Spanish culture as an expressive art form where motion & guitar fuse in a dramatic display of alluring sight & sound.”

Eye contact with the audience is an other aspect of flamenco dancing
that makes it all the more exciting to watch. One can perceive the
entire performance as a personal affair as the dancer locks on, eye to eye as she works the crowd. At performances all over southern Spain, it is customary to tip the performers even at high society gatherings. Clicking castanets, perfectly timed striking heals, the fan along with a highly detailed dress for both men & women is more potent than coffee at keeping you attentive at a Flamenco dance performance. Karla spends about six to four hours a week perfecting her flamenco skills with Sonia Chapa in McAllen.

Karla graduated Cum Laude from UTPA with a degree in Business
Administration, with a major in accounting and now works for a major accounting firm in McAllen. There she project manages audits for local cities, school districts and non-profit organizations as a Senior Auditor. With her staff she visits these organizations to make sure there is no hanky panky going on by reviewing their policies, financial records and files. Most of her time is spent insuring that federal grant money and local taxes are being well spent and to prevent fraud from occurring with tax payer money.

With the flamenco costume off and the business attire on its “All
serious business” she tells us. She works long hours looking for suspicious statement entries and patterns. “It’s not just about balancing the books, we do our work here with a different type of passion because of the huge responsibilities and large sums of public funds at stake.” Karla while working full time is also planning on achieving a seat for the CPA boards in 2009. She is taking classes for it and must complete 150 hours of credit to qualify for the test.

Karla is an only child and has developed a strong personal desire to
help young children in the area who have special needs. She serves as a volunteer big sister for the BIG BROTHER/BIG SISTER program.
Her little sister, nine year old Joanna is her other passion. They go
to the movies, the park and the library together. Joanna can count
on Karla as a good role model and as a friend. “It has been very rewarding to participate in the program because it gives me the chance to share my own educational and professional achievements with the next generation so they know what’s possible.”