AN-YA PROJECT: CONTRIBUTORS UP-FRONT
featuring
Amanda H.L.Transue-Woolston
Where were you born? Where do you live now?
I was born in Tennessee. I live in the Greater Philadelphia Area in Pennsylvania.
How and why did you become involved with the AN-YA Project?
I became involved with the AN-YA
Project when Diane Christian emailed me asking for my ideas and support. I believed in the project. I felt it was important for those reading An-Ya to be guided by the voices of
adult adoptees who are knowledgeable professionals, if they’d like to learn
more about living adoption.
Tell us
about a personal accomplishment that brought you deep satisfaction.
Having the privilege of raising my
two children is my greatest accomplishment in life. I am also extremely proud of my graduating
from a BSW program and entering into graduate school in social work.
Imagine
you are sitting on your childhood bed. Look around your bedroom. What do you
see?
The look of my room changed quite a
bit during my childhood as my parents encouraged me to explore my creativity
and surround myself with things that I liked.
When I was very young, I had pink carpet and bedding and curtains with
pink and purple flowers. When I was in
middle school, my walls and ceilings were midnight blue and adorned with
glowing stars. On one wall, my parents
had allowed me to paint an ocean with fish.
As an adolescent, my walls were tan with murals of flowers that I had
painted. My bedding was an array of
animal prints.
Favorite
book(s) when you were a child?
I loved reading The Babysitter’sClub. I also enjoyed the classics too.
Do you
have any pets or a special memory of a childhood pet?
I have two, large, loveable and ridiculous
Golden Retrievers.
Do you have
any hobbies outside of your career?
I cross-train a few nights a week in
three different martial arts and kickboxing.
I have a brown belt in karate. I
also like photography.
What
things do you not like to do?
I am not a fan of watching
sports—other than baseball. I am also
not especially fond of cooking.
Was there
a teacher, for better or worse, who influenced your life’s path?
I have told each of my professors at
West Chester University that they’ve changed my life. They have helped me on the way to becoming
the best social worker that I can be and I could not be more thankful for how
they’ve helped me achieve a career that I am proud of.
Tell us
about your dream meal...all of the courses and who you would like at the table
with you.
There are so many people I would
love to dine and chat with. There are so
many family members that I have that are spread out across the country that I
would love to share a meal with. But
truly, my absolute dream meal is a meal I already get to have several nights
per week. It is when it sit outside on
my deck with my husband and children and watch my 4 year old try to build
things with his French fries and giggle at my two year old who has decided to
try to eat his cheese burger without using his hands. It’s the dogs resting in the sunlight at our
feet, waiting for any morsel of food that the kids drop.What are you currently reading?
I am reading a book called Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy. Reedy is a
colleague of my cousin, Jessica, who just received her MFA degree. It is a captivating tale of a young girl in
Afghanistan.
Favorite
Film with an ‘adoption narrative’?
Matilda.
What
projects are you working on now?
I am currently working on my
contribution to the AN-YA: Strengths Based Mental Health Guide. I am expecting articles I wrote to appear in
two different magazines. I am working on
editing an anthology and finishing up the final manuscript of my own book for
publication.
Anything
else you would like to share with readers?
Be passionate. Advocate for the things that matter.
(This interview is the first in our on-going interview series AN-YA PROJECT: CONTRIBUTORS UP-FRONT)
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