A Day With Tonya Anderson

A Day With Tonya Anderson

Sean Brown

Tonya Anderson, former chief of staff for Rick Maribito, is an interesting woman. She is a Republican who works for a Democrat. She is a Christian who practices meditation in Hindu temples. Anderson a veteran but seems to be an active member of pacifist communities. It seems rather odd that a woman of so many contradictions seems so at peace with herself.

Andersonwas born Nov. 18, 1962 to two teenage parents. Her father took the only course of action available to someone in his position; he joined the U.S. Armed Forces. He made the decision to save his family from a life of hardship by joining the U.S. Navy. Anderson speaks vividly of her time traveling and growing up as a Military Brat.

Deciding to continue her life of travel, Anderson decided to become a flight attendant. She fondly recalls all of the places she has been. She speaks of her life as a flight attendant with the same fervor the same way a sports announcer celebrates a home run.

        Anderson, a graduate University of Hawaii and former student at the U.S. Naval Academy at one point, is by far the most interesting person we have interviewed. After she graduated from the University of Hawaii, she decided to work on the 2004 Kerry Presidential Campaign. After losing, she was offered a job by Pennsylvania State Representative Rick Maribito, who initially rescinded the offer because of her spiritual beliefs. After failing to find anyone better, Maribito made a compromise and hired her despite her beliefs. After coming to Williamsport, Anderson also decided to work as a domestic and sexual violence counselor. When asked why, she said that she herself was a victim of sexual violence and wanted help make a difference.

Anderson is also a proud mother. Her son, despite having a health disability, became a police officer in Millersville. . On his first day on the job, he saved a woman’s life and was honored for his brave and timely actions. Anderson says that she raised her son to follow his dreams and she is happy that he has done just that.

Anderson is a multifaceted individual with so many stories to tell and so much knowledge to offer. I wish we had spent more time interviewing her. I hope that others will be as fortunate as us to hear her story.       

11/20/2014

Think of a wild coincidence that has occurred in your life. Now write three-four paragraphs and develop the incident, giving us the necessary background information and specific details.

The setting is Williamsport Pa. Lycoming College to be exact. Sitting in the AC waiting for my French class to start. The professor who was normally on time. While waiting, me and my class mates were discussing the news from the weekend. There is a huge car crash the same weekend that the suspension on my license was lifted. Apparently there was a cop chasing a car through a stop sign. He hit a bystanders car which killed him, but that's not all. The bystander car hit a power line which knocked power out. The live wire fell onto the roof of a home which caught fire.

10/28/2014

10/28/2014

Write about a recurring public gathering you attended in a place you visited. It should be a very pleasant memory, and could be a baseball game or street fair, an outdoor concert or historical reenactment. Put yourself there by freewriting or clustering, allowing your mind to wander back. Write about the people you saw, the smells in the air. You’ll be amazed by how much you remember once you begin writing about it.

Every year in Baltimore we have Art Scape. It is a giant music and arts festival. There are thousands of people that gather at MICA, Maryland's school of art. There are artists there to display there work. I remember every time that I have attended. There are attendees in colorful attire and musicians on every corner. The festival is so lively you can see it from the highway. I look forward to it every summer and cannot wait to be apart of it this summer.

11/6/2014

11/6/2014

Recall a funeral you've attended and write about it. Did anything unusual happen at the event? How did you feel? Describe the situation -- who, what, when, where, why and how.


I have only been to one funeral. My uncles funeral back in January.

11/18/2014

11/18/2014
Write about a dream you’ve had again and again. When did you first have the dream? When does it recur? What do you think it signifies?

There has only been on point in my life where I had reoccurring dream. It happened about January when I decided to give up drinking for a semester. I had the same bazaar dream every night about a broken mirror. The same dream every night for a week. It never stopped happening. Same thing every night me looking into a broken mirror. I have no idea why. I decided to see a psychic for help. But after talking to my mother it turns out that when you aren't drinking that your brain is more active at night.

11/11/2014

Write about your favorite movie or book and explain why you enjoyed it. Talk about the technical aspects and the creative: for example, the film’s pacing and lighting, as well as the dialogue and the plot.

Pulp Fiction is by far my favorite movie. It was the first movie that turned me onto Quentin Tarantino. The cinematography is stunning and exceptional. It is edited to showcase all the best elements of the story. The dialogue is crisp and well delivered. The soundtrack matches the well paced story and helps the viewer experience the film in a very unique way. The acting is top notch. Some of the actors deliver performance that they have yet to match later on in the careers. If there was one thing that stands out the most among all of the movie is how all the stories of the individual characters mesh together and are interrelated in a way that is comprehensible.

11/13/2014

11/13/2014

Have a character espouse a viewpoint on life with which you very much disagree, but have the character argue it well, citing examples from her life to buttress her stance. Resist the temptation to make her sound foolish or harsh. Write this in the third or first person, from the narrative.

I for as long as I can remember have urged others to become libertarians. The principles on which our government were founded are being eroded everyday.Big, centralized, bureaucratic government that seeks to become a dictatorship. Despite overwhelming evidence that human beings are perfectly capable of great things absent of government. Each day a large government seeks to remove our individual rights and freedoms. Just look at the way it treats heroes like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. Who dared expose the truth about our oppressive government and there heinous actions. They are beholden to special interests groups that do not deliver the best good for the people of our great country. Deals, influence peddling, and coercion and corporation. A great democratic republic is falling apart because of greed and authoritative government.

11/4/2014

11/4/2014

Recall a wedding you've attended and write about it. Did anything unusual happen at the event? How did you feel? Describe the situation -- who, what, when, where, why and how.


I went to a friends wedding recently. It was different than normal because, well it was a friend and not some distant relative that I had barely known. Aside from it being the wedding of a close friend it was also smallest wedding I had been to and the least expensive to be apart of. It was in a plant nursery that was filled with beautiful plant life and gorgeous singing birds. Me and other close friends surrounded Alex and his wife. It was strange because I wasn't counting down the minutes till it was over like had done with weddings in the past. I was excited for my friend. He was having arguably the best day of his life. This was about 6 months ago. It still seems as vivid as the day it happened though.