Audrey (Cook) Sowers became involved with Stoa in 2013. She says, “At that time in my life, I was wrestling with deep social anxiety and fear of other people. I found speaking—sometimes even holding a conversation—to be extremely difficult.” She shares how her journey began changing after joining Paradox Speech and Debate Club: “I love the story of how I met Mikayla Diaz, a fellow club member. Mikayla and I were mutually terrified of one another…Later, we both discovered the other one struggled with social anxiety. To this day, we are still enjoying the sweet fruit of the bond that was forged in the fires of stress and anxiety.”
After graduating from Stoa in 2017, she received two AAAS degrees in Entrepreneurship and Marketing from Shoreline Community College. She is currently freelancing as an associate editor for Heidi Cook Editing, a firm that launches first-time authors of children’s books: “The skills I learned through writing, presenting, and coaching interpretation speeches are directly applicable to everything I do.”
Read Audrey’s story of how Stoa helped her with social anxiety here.