Your Name
Katherine Hachenski
What High School do you attend?
Saratoga Springs High School
Please tell us a little bit about your family.
Both my mom and dad graduated from Michigan State University with majors in engineering. My sister, Julianna, is about two years older than me and goes to Purdue University in Indiana, also studying engineering. For my dad’s work, we moved around a few times in my childhood, being together as we went to new places made us closer.
What are your plans after graduation?
I will begin school at the University of Minnesota this fall. I have always had a strong interest to help people and wanted that interest weaved into the career path I chose. I was also a very active child that had their fair share of experiences with stitches and sprains; from my visits to hospitals I have inspiring memories of interactions I shared with nurses that instilled comfort into not so relaxed situations. All this has motivated me; I will be pursuing a major in nursing.
What are two of your favorite restaurants in our community?
Druthers and Sweet Mimi’s
If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
I’d like to go to Maine sometime in the summer; it’s the only the time of the year to see the puffins. My family has wanted to take the trip in the past but time has always gotten away from us.
What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
Stand By Me, no question is my favorite film. I grew up watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer with my sister so that show also has a special place in my heart.
If you were asked to give advice to your senior class and the younger students at your school, what would you say?
Continue to find yourself. Don’t try and sort yourself into a box. High school is about finding out more about you – your interests, likes and dislikes, passions, and goals. People are complex and one interest doesn’t need to define you, remaining open minded offers more area to cover in learning what you may like and love while making mistakes and finding solutions on the way.
If you were able to be cast as yourself into a television show or series, what show would you want to be in?
That’s a hard question. Maybe Phineas and Ferb, it’s nostalgic and it’d be interesting to see a cartoon portrayal of myself. Or, maybe Supernatural, it would be fun to go on an adventure and solve mysteries.
If you could choose anyone to have lunch with, who would you choose? Why? And where, locally, would you meet for this lunch?
I would be thrilled to have a lunch with S.E. Hinton, the author of The Outsiders. She is a woman that inspired change through a teenage protagonist that spoke to a community of youth that felt heard and adults that reflected back on their childhood. Her book is the one that impacted me the most and she was published before she even graduated high school. I would be interested to hear what motivates her, interests her outside of her career, and overall enjoy the company of woman that has established herself as a role model to me. I would think we’d meet in Congress Park, find a picnic table on a nice day after picking up sandwiches from Cardona’s to just talk and be in no rush.
What is your favorite thing about our community?
Broadway. As a community we have a beautiful central location for gathering with family, friends, and co-workers.
Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
Working as a traveling nurse, seeing what new opportunities are available to me in the new places I travel.
What is something on your bucket list?
To write a book and become published.
What is your go to band / singer when you can’t decide what to listen to?
KALEO
Favorite month? favorite holiday? and best single day on the calendar?
I look forward to Thanksgiving every year. It is a tradition for all of the family to stay at my grandparents’ house in Michigan and it’s one of the rare few times of the year when we are all together. Much of my family is based in Michigan, and even though I’ve never lived there, arriving at my grandparents’ each year still radiates the same warm aura of home that our house in New York does.
What would you rate a 10 out of 10?
My dad’s homemade pierogi
Who inspires you to be better?
My mom
