As a 12th-generation direct descendant of Abraham Hasbrouck, one of 12 French refugees that established the community of New Paltz in 1678, Kathena Hasbrouck has a special appreciation for the area. A graduate student at SUNY New Paltz, Kathena knows New Paltz inside and out and jokes that she could be a tour guide if she wanted to.

In reality, Kathena is a published writer who has presented her literary papers at several national conferences. In addition, her fiction has been published in independent literary magazines as well as on the Internet.

Kathena's love for literature is far-reaching. She earned an undergraduate degree from New Paltz in creative writing and teaches freshman composition for the college's English Department as a teaching assistant. She enjoys teaching composition because it allows her to observe the evolution that occurs in her students' ability to express themselves. After completing her thesis, Kathena would like to pursue a Ph.D. and teach English at the university level.

Why New Paltz? Kathena has a strong connection to the area along with a great respect for the faculty who teach at New Paltz.

Goals: To teach English at the university level.

Interests: Supporting the arts: Kathena attends literary readings and in her free time writes music reviews for small independent magazines. She is also currently writing her thesis on the semi-autobiographical fiction of the writer Marguerite Duras.

Influences: Writers Helene Cixous, Dorothy Parker, and Sylvia Plath