Uschi Donner

**Ursula Doe "Uschi" Donner** is a writer, photographer, and visual artist.

## Childhood

Uschi was born as **Andrea Tennille Vandever** in Anchorage, Alaska to Gary Dean Vandever and Julie Anna Gilfilian-Vandever on April 1st, 1999. Her sun sign is in Aries (12th house), her moon is in Libra (6th house) and her rising is Gemini. She has an older half-sister, Brianna.

She was raised in Eagle River, Alaska, where she lived until her teens. Her family faced many difficulties, including the death of her dad on January 20th, 2009. Before this, she faced continual health problems (being diagnosed with hypothyroidism and PCOs at age 9) and bullying at school, including from the staff of her school.

From an early age, she was interested in writing and would often sit at the home computer with a chapter book, copying the story verbatim but replacing the characters with her own original characters; she would also write and illustrate her own stories with printer paper, markers and staple it together.

Along with writing, her interest in photography came early in her life. She would find disposable cameras around her house, take them and take photos of random things; she did the same with digital cameras.

## Current Life

She currently lives in Wasilla, Alaska with her mom, stepdad, her sister and her two cats, Zed and Ingles.

## Education

She attended preschool at CCS Early Learning in Chugiak, Alaska at ages three to four. She spent her elementary school years at Eagle River Elementary, and stayed in the school until she was in fourth grade; she was taken out of the school, largely due to the death of her dad as well as unaddressed learning difficulties and contention from the staff.

She was homeschooled for a year or so afterward, and then spent half a year at the Eagle River Christian Academy, a private school, attending fourth grade once more. The next school year, she had to repeat the fourth grade but struggled because of the learning. She did not return to the school and spent fifth grade to ninth grade homeschooled. While being homeschooled, she would attend classes at a charter school, though due to her social anxiety, she would frequently drop out of these classes.

She began her freshmen year of high school at Burchell High School, age 15 to 16. Her education rocketed there after, and soon she found herself getting awards for her hardworking in her classes and high grades as a result. She attended this school from 2014 to 2017.

In May 2017, she began attending the Mat-Su Middle College at the encouragement of her mother; the school was a specialized program that allowed high schoolers to immerse themselves in real college courses and get college credits, as well as high school credits. This was when her education began to suffer, and she barely made it out of her college-level classes. She graduated from the Mat-Su Middle College in May of 2018, though she had the option to walk with the graduating Burchell class, which she did.

The next school year, she attended the Mat-Su College, where she took four classes but only passed two. She has not returned to any type of education as of late, because of financial issues.

## Other Names

Andrea Tennille Vandever

Andrea Tennille Donner

Andrea Tennille

Andrea Donner

Ursula Doe Donner

Uschi Doe Donner

Normal Island