Jessie Zeleike joined CTY in 1999. She has a Ph.D. in literature and film from The University of Arizona and has been teaching writing courses on the college level since 1990. In 1997, on a break from graduate school, she taught herself how to weave and opened a small weaving business. She now divides her time between teaching writing, playing music (she's a beginner at piano and cello), seeing films, weaving, and walking in the desert while yearning for the sea.