Sarena Tien is a PhD candidate studying representations of female friendship in Francophone African and Asian literature and film. She received her BA from Randolph-Macon College and her MA from Cornell University. As an alumna of the Teaching Assistant Program in France and City Year DC, she also has experience teaching elementary and high school students. In her free time, she enjoys reading, crocheting, and wandering through nature. She is also a creative writer and has published poetry as well as short works of fiction and nonfiction.