Cassandra is originally from upstate New York and graduated from Marist College with a BA in Spanish, a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and a concentration in Bilingual Eduation/ESL. She earned her Master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she now works as the Teaching Coordinator of the ESL WritingProgram. Her work includes teaching a course on thesis and dissertation writingfor international graduate students and working with the other ESL instructorson teacher training, professional development, classroom instruction, andtechnology in the classroom.