2024 Commitment to Community
First presented in 2022, the Scripps College Commitment to Community award recognizes an alum for their high achievement in community service and volunteer work beyond Scripps College. The award honors an individual who has carried the spirit of confidence, courage, and hope beyond Honnold Gate. The award is presented each year during Reunion Weekend. Read about past recipients here.
As a young girl of little means growing up in Phoenix, Arizona, Anna dreamed of attending a college that could put her on a path to future success. After receiving a National Merit scholarship, she was able to narrow her choices down to a private women’s college in California. Scripps offered a serene setting in an academically challenging environment, the perfect fit for Anna. She initially proceeded with her original premed major, but after some soul-searching, changed her major to religion and women’s studies in her sophomore year.
In the early summer after her sophomore year, Anna was married. This caused a bit of a challenge because at the time, Scripps required all students to live on campus, and only seniors could have access to the few apartments on campus. Anna and her husband, who was attending Azusa Pacific University, lived in a small apartment in Glendora and she continued as a commuter student—unheard of in the Scripps culture at that time. Anna was mentored by the chair of the religious studies department, and after her junior year, she began work on her thesis while also attending the Salvation Army College for Officer’s Training in Palos Verdes, California. When graduation time came around, she arrived to participate in the ceremonies as the only married graduate. The following year, Anna was commissioned as an officer in the Salvation Army and served in their ranks for the next 15 years. Soon after, she pursued her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and began a second career in secondary education. Anna worked as a world languages teacher for over 20 years, and this led to working with international students and traveling to many countries to recruit students to study in America.
Anna’s career has spanned Arizona, California, and Colorado and has allowed her the opportunity to learn from many cultures. Her love of languages has most recently led her to accept a missionary post with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Anna is currently serving as the director of Rain Forest International School in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The school offers a Christian education to missionary children, expats, and nationals in grades 7–12.
Anna sees her time at Scripps as formative to helping her examine other viewpoints, study subject matters of consequence, and settle on a calling to serve others.
Anna is recently widowed and is the mother of four grown sons and the grandmother of precious Evie.