Anna Leneaker — SWAG To College Team Member
Anna Leneaker grew up in an “atypical family.” When she was younger her mom struggled with drug addiction, and while she was living with her, Anna wasn’t in school at all, so she missed half of elementary school. However, at the age of ten she moved in with her older brother and his wife. Once she was living with them, she was able to attend and appreciate school because of the stability it offered her. She went to the same place everyday, saw the same people, and made friends while being there. She learned to enjoy school in such a short time, because she didn’t have that secure environment in the past. Anna’s brother and his wife have raised her from the moment she moved in with them until she graduated high school. This gave her a lot of independence, since she was in the middle ground between being treated like a younger sister and a daughter. Her brother is also 17 years older than her, but they still have a lot of things in common. They even attended classes together, once her brother decided to go back to school. They would work on homework together over the weekends, and they constantly supported each other.
Anna grew up with a lot of independence. Her brother didn’t try to act like a parent, but instead he just really cared for her. This shaped the way Anna approaches things in life. For example, she became very independent and chose a lot of things for herself, such as what college to attend and what to study. However, her brother has had a very big influence in her life. He especially influenced her to study religious studies. Currently, Anna is a student in Brown University studying religious studies and philosophy. Most of her struggles have come from being a first generation and low income student. Before she went to college, she didn’t really know what to expect from college, so she spent a lot of time doing research, googling, and reading college blogs. Additionally, she applied to every scholarship she could in order to be financially stable, and she was really fortunate to get a full scholarship from Brown. Since Anna is from California she also struggled with moving to the other side of the country. She often had to deal with homesickness, and had to get used to being in such a different environment. She had to learn to navigate a space where people came from very different backgrounds than she did. Most students had attended private schools in the past, and had their parents pay their full tuition for them. Anna had never been around people from that social class and who had so much social capital.
Even though there are many struggles when one is a first generation student, going to college is worth it. Brown University has a very loose and independent schedule that gives Anna the freedom to take whatever classes she wants. She found her passion and took classes that go in depth in what she is interested in. Additionally, Brown University has a lovely and open community that Anna was drawn to since the first time she was in campus. So far, her favorite class her been Mysticism. She studied Mysticism when she was abroad in England. In the class, there was only Anna and one other student that were being taught by a reverend from the Church of England. At one point, there was even a surprise student, which was a 70 year old nun. Each week for an hour and a half they would all discuss interesting topics of religion while drinking coffee or tea. Through this class, Anna had very interesting conversations with very diverse people that believed in different things. It was very academic, but it took place in a comfortable and non-intimidating environment.
Outside of school, Anna likes to read a lot of books, skateboard, and she works full for time for SWAG to College. She enjoys doing the tasks SWAG gives her, because she spends her afternoons talking to people and setting up resources for students to use. Anna heard about SWAG her first semester at Brown in her class admitted students Facebook page, and she immediately knew that was something she wanted to be involved in. Anna had a difficult time herself when it came to the college application process and writing essays. She didn’t have as many resources, especially since her high school was a charter high school where there wasn’t good college advising or supportive resources. Everyone either went to community college, a state school, or just didn’t go to college. Therefore, she knew that by being in SWAG she would be able to help someone in a similar situation that she was in before. So far her favorite part about being in SWAG, is time managing the essay board. Anna really likes to see what students are writing about and what the other volunteers are giving advice on.
After graduating from college, Anna plans on taking a year off and then going to grad school for professorship. Anna feels as though that she could talk about religious studies for the rest of her life, and she would love to teach it and have meaningful conversations about it with various people from different backgrounds. Lastly, 10 years from now, she would like to see herself living in a space in a city she enjoys and have some sort of nice community to be a part of. She would also like to own a cat, have a nice couch, and “that’s it.” As Anna said, “If I achieve that I will be really happy.”
— Interview and article written by Belkis Moreno
