Kirstin Taylor Maldonado was born in Fort Worth, Texas on May 16, 1992. Her mother is Spanish-Italian, while her father, Michael Cisneros, is Mexican. Maldonado was raised by her mother Angelica Maldonado in Arlington, Texas. Maldonado was only five years old when she first expressed her wish to become a singer. At eight years old, she sang at her mother's wedding reception, ultimately convincing her mother to enroll her in voice lessons.Maldonado also got into theater and starred in several local productions. It was through the local theater community that Maldonado met Mitch Grassi, a future fellow Pentatonix member. Maldonado attended Holy Rosary Catholic School and later Martin High School. At Martin High School, she met Scott Hoying with whom she and Grassi would later form Pentatonix. The three friends created an a cappella trio and started getting attention around their school for their covers of popular songs. Maldonado graduated from Martin High School in 2010 and went to The University of Oklahoma where she was a Musical Theatre Performance major. She dropped out in order to form Pentatonix.