Tatiana knew she wanted to become a writer before she could write. She would scribble in notebooks and read her stories aloud to her family. For her 5th grade career fair, she wore fake glasses and a pencil behind her ear. When anyone asked, she proudly told them she was dressed as an author.

If you didn’t find her with her nose in a book or journal, you’d catch her playing Tekken on her PlayStation 2 or Pokémon: FireRed on her Game Boy Advance SP. Make-believe worlds fascinated her. It’s why she decided to study English literature in college, one of the few majors that rewarded people for jumping into imaginary spaces — Blue-skidoo style.

On her journey to obtaining an English degree, she also picked up a minor in journalism to force herself to actually talk to people. Having deep conversations with a diverse array of students, faculty and staff made her realize that nonfiction is even more fascinating than fantasy.

When she graduated, her mentors encouraged her to seek out new stories in new places. Having grown up in a place with one of the largest Assyrian populations in the country, it wasn't easy to leave her family and cultural community. But she is excited to showcase the unique and vibrant stories at UC Davis and is now serving the university as a kind of “word doctor” through search engine optimization.

Favorite book

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Guilty pleasure

Gacha games. Don't @ me.

Favorite things

Dogs, dogs, dogs. And asyndeton.

Random fact

Learned how to ride a unicycle in 3rd grade