interview – Rock Star Writers Blog

Hello There,

My name is Sara Anderton. I’m learning American Sign Language along with Hebrew. Once I finish those two languages I hope to learn Ancient Greek, Aramaic, Arabic, Irish Gaelic and if I have time maybe some Hindi or Spanish because my mom was a Spanish teacher. I am the person who will know the most when someone faints or has a seizure; I’m also most likely to faint with my vasovagal syncope. I love learning cultures and religions. I love to learn in general, so I love journalism where I can learn even more. My family is a big advocate for education for all.

Additionally, I’m Jewish-Christian which basically means I believe in Jesus but I keep kosher and celebrate the holidays. Just think I know Lord’s Prayer and Shema. I study Tanakh (Old Testament) and Brit Chadashah (New Testament). Celebrating both religions is just fun for me and gets me connected to my faith. How I practice isn’t for all but it is for me and I’m proud of my faith. I also go to church in my school so that’s fun.

I hope to go into journalism either with a small company or with NPR over the radio. I’ve been writing for my Newspaper “Fuquay Varina’s Roaring Bengal” since freshman year. I’ve written about faith, to infrastucture, to school events. I know a lot about boats, space and planes because of these articles. My most notable works are my JDRF (now Breakthrough Type 1 Diabetes) walk article and my four part series on the different religious holidays in spring. I was a part of a workshop called Post 5 where I worked with WRAL, a local news station in North Carolina. I got to see broadcast journalism. I learned a lot from them, especially what I want to do and what I don’t want to do.

I am a writer with a book published on Amazon. I write fantasy war stories, mixing religions (hints: my own faith) and cultural stories where I create a whole new place. I also work on the sci-fi and romance genre which can be difficult. One has many of many ideas but no plot. I’ve made tons of maps out of rice and don’t have enough stories for them. I use what I got from my day for some of my stories especially if someone does something particularly funny.

I love dogs. My yorkie-poodle, Tessa is my little sister. I’m an only child of only children so the dog is worth it. I got her in fourth grade after fostering many other dogs from boxers to terriers. Tessa’s full name is Pequina Tessora Trouble Anderton. Her first name is Spanish for little treasure. Spanish names for dogs are a trend in my family. When I was a baby we had a dog named Quesi (Kacy), short for Hermosita Quesi which means definitely cute. We foster with Second Chances Pet Adoptions. I’ve fundraised for them with my school’s Pet Parade. I wasn’t the first with the idea but I continued it and I hope that another shelter gets money from the parade again.

By: Karmen Morrison

A Jacksonville, Florida native, a women’s sports advocate and a concert frequenter are a few things that make me who I am. This past spring I received my Master of Arts degree from the University of Georgia after two years of culminating projects, writing and research. Before my time at UGA, I got my bachelor’s degree from Florida State University, go noles!

I was unsure of what I wanted to do and had very little interest in anything until my senior year of high school. ” I was a scholar athlete and that came with many interviews that year about school and athletics. I had a lot of fun doing those interviews and then it hit me, can I do this for a living? It was fun being the interviewee and FSU taught me how to be the interviewer. During my time at FSU, I was able to get my feet wet, learn the basics and hone in on the skills of a multimedia journalist. Never did I think I would pursue a master’s degree until I realized I needed to learn more and needed more experience.

While at UGA, I was a graduate assistant for a course called Reporting I where I gained real-world experience in a multitude of areas. I served as a liaison between instructors and students, helped facilitate classes and workshops, brainstormed and implemented new learning activities and aided instructors in various ways. My time at UGA has allowed me to develop production skills, evolve as a journalist, form new relationships and create various types of content I am proud of.

Outside of school, my favorite sport is basketball. My all-time favorite basketball players are LeBron James and Candace Parker. I enjoy watching press conferences, I love listening to music and I am a huge advocate for the representation of women in sports and women’s sports.