Meet Amanda Ayers

Amanda Ayers is the 2018-2020 Student Advisor for Sigma Tau Delta. She is pursuing her MA in Rhetoric and Composition at Florida State University. While earning her BA in English Writing and Publication at the University of North Georgia, she was an active member of the Alpha Upsilon Phi Chapter and served as the Community Engagement Coordinator on the executive board. When she’s not studying, Amanda enjoys reading memoirs, listening to true crime podcasts, cooking with friends, and playing with her doggos.

1. My favorite movie is The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
   
2. I never leave the house without my water bottle, some lip balm, and my watch.
3. If I had to eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be cheeseburgers!
4. Growing up, I was sure I would be a teacher.
5. I know every word to the song “All Star,” by Smash Mouth (#millennial).
6. The best gift I’ve ever received was a journal my mom kept of my senior year. She logged all of our travels, celebrations, and struggles and gave it to me on my high school graduation day. I treasure it to this day.
7. My nickname in high school was “Ama,” pronounced “a-may,” and just the first three letters of my first name. What can I say . . . my friends were lazy.
8. If you find me in the kitchen, I’m typically whipping up bread, curry, or pasta. All the pasta.
9. I’m both a reader and writer.
10. The best paper title I ever created was “Happiness as Postcolonial Rebellion in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things.”
11. The literary place I’d most like to visit is the Great Hall at Hogwarts.
12. My dream job is a professor who writes and researches while casually traveling the world and cooks a lot.
13. An author I truly admire is Brené Brown, a Houston based story-teller/researcher who explores vulnerability and courage at the heart of the human experience.
14. My go-to children’s book is Adventures in the Big Thicket, by Ken Gire, which I’m sure no one has heard of. My dad used to read it to me all the time and, when we finished the book for the umpteenth time, he started making up stories about the Thicket. It’s why I love storytelling.
15. The destination at the top of my travel bucket list is Barcelona.
16. My favorite part of being an English Major is getting to spend all my time studying and thinking about words. Like how is this real life?
17. The last book I read was To Shake the Sleeping Self, by Jedidiah Jenkins.
18. My favorite book is Dream Work by Mary Oliver.

    

19. My favorite bookstore is my neighborhood bookstore, Midtown Reader in Tallahassee, FL.
20. In 10 years, I’m betting that the big trend in literature will be interactive “choose your own adventure” digital e-Books.
21. My first job was babysitting.
22. The last book I bought was When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön, and I have read it.
23. The celebrity I’d most like to spend a day with is Karen Kilgariff of “My Favorite Murder” podcast fame.
24. If I could move anywhere in the world, I’d live in Nova Scotia.
25. My Hogwarts House is Gryffindor!