When you look at Katy Andersen, you see a wonderful young
girl always carrying her spirits high and a smile on her face. You instantly
think to yourself, “wow! this girl must have always lived the perfect life.”
But what you don’t know is that through several years of her childhood, Katy
experienced a few extremely intense hardships that have made her a stronger
person today. Experiences so gruesome, they have forever changed the path of
her life.
Katy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the hometown of her mother
Lora. At the age of two, her mother divorced her verbally and physically
abusive biological father, Jason Clauser. The following week, Lora went on to
meet the love of her life today, Kris Andersen, and the two of them married
each other one year later. Kris works as an environmental engineer, and due to
his occupation, he moved the family to Knoxville, Tennessee. However, growing
up Jason still had custody of Katy every other weekend and through many days
of the summer. You would think that the four hour long ride back and forth from
Tennessee to Georgia was bad enough for Katy, but that certainly was not the
only struggles she faced from those trips. With being away from her friends
from Tennessee every other weekend, she would often miss birthday and slumber
parties. And if that weren’t enough,
Katy would return back to Tennessee from Georgia with multiple bruises over
her body. It is almost impossible to imagine how traumatizing it was for the
poor girl as she was abused at such a young age.
Mr. Clauser was in and out of court with Katy all throughout
her childhood. It wasn’t until she was twelve years when the worst incident had
occurred, and the court system finally had enough. Growing up, Katy had a
passion for the sport of Softball, and whenever she would have a bad game, Clauser
would physically beat her. It got so bad that when she was twelve years old, he
went on to tie Katy to a tree in his backyard. Although those scarring
memories may be in the back of her mind forever, Katy has learned to grow so
much stronger as an individual and persevere through those many hardships.
Katy and her family actually ended up moving again during
her 8th grade year to Chillicothe, Ohio. During the days of junior
high, you become significantly close to your good friends, and she had to leave
them all behind in Tennessee. But that didn’t stop her from living nothing but
a happy life, as she made the transition very easy through the 8th
grade and into the four years of high school. Attending Chillicothe High
School, where she was a principle stand player in the orchestra and was also
involved in all the school musicals. Being a part of those organizations, she
explains, “that is where I let out my inner nerd self.” At Chillicothe, Katy
was also extremely involved with the ‘top-notch’ “Broadcasting/Journalism”
program at the school, and it is there where she found the deep love for the
profession. The president of the program and principle of the school is an alum
of the “E.W. Scripps School of Journalism,” and he had a tremendous influence
on Katy’s decision of attending Ohio University. She applied to two other
schools, Syracuse University and the University of Southern California, two
schools who are also incredibly well known for their Journalism programs. When
it all came down to it, Katy and her parents came to the conclusion that Ohio
University was the most realistic fit, and to this point, she certainly does
not regret the decision.
As for her future, Katy’s dream job is to travel around the
world as an investigative reporter. In full effect, she wants to know what it
is like to live in a third-world country. It is not the five-star Hotels she is
looking to stay at in these countries, but the rooms with holes in the wall
instead. To put things in perspective, it would be amazing to her if she could ensue
a profession such as Amy Goodman’s. And to be completely honest, I could
definitely see Katy as being the next Amy Goodman one day, the host of
“Democracy Now!” Katy Andersen has nothing but a bright future ahead, and is
well on her way to accomplishing great things.
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