Carolyn Chun was born on November 30, 1980, in Pennsylvania. She attended Rutgers University from 1998 to 2002, where she majored in mathematics and physics. Carolyn spent the next year tutoring traveling and visiting family. In 2003, she moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to study mathematics. Carolyn received a doctor of philosophy in mathematics and master of fine arts in creative writing from Louisiana State University, both awarded in August, 2009. She is currently a postdoc in the school of mathematics, operations research and statistics at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, and is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.