Eric Ndeh, Latonya (Tonya) Mitchell and Marta Afera make up the Tregaron security team. Behind the scenes, the three security guards open up the gates in the morning, set the alarm system, man the booth in the Mansion entrance and see to any trouble on campus. Outside the job, each of the security guards have various hobbies and extensive histories.

ERIC NDEH:

Just after COVID-19 hit, Ndeh became a security guard; WIS was recruiting for faculty who were fully vaccinated after the layoffs of other unvaccinated faculty.

Ndeh’s passion for his work comes from his father, who was a police officer. As a kid, he was encouraged to keep up the legacy of his father when he grew up.

“My dad used to be a cop too, I’m kind of following him doing that,” Ndeh said.

Originally from Cameroon, that is where his inspiration began. Only in 2009 did he move to the United States for university, and to be with his mother.

Now, Ndeh has picked up several hobbies outside of his work shift from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Ndeh enjoys basketball, soccer and cooking, but Ndeh’s main passion is traveling.

If he wasn’t a security guard, he would want to travel, explore different countries and report on the happenings in the world.  

“I like having conversations,” Ndeh said. “I’m good at observing and talking about stuff so I think I would be good at that. I also speak French so I feel like that would help.”

Other than that, his favorite part of the job is his interactions with students. 

“I’d say the students are fun to be around,” Ndeh said.

He enjoys seeing the lively student-led events, and traditions we have at WIS.

“Just being around kids [is so nice],” Ndeh said. “I don’t have any kids, but, I love them. I swear you guys make my day go faster.”

Ndeh currently has no plans to leave WIS and is looking forward to exploring some of his new hobbies outside of his work.

LATONYA MITCHELL:

Five years ago, in 2019, Tonya Mitchell accepted her position at WIS as security manager. After leaving her job as a preschool teacher, she was looking for something different.

“Once I left teaching, I decided to get into something else,” Mitchell said. “When I was offered a job to come to WIS as a security officer, I thought to myself: ‘That’s great! I can still have the best of both worlds!’”

When deciding where to go after her preschool job, Mitchell was debating between a job at Georgetown University or WIS, but ended up choosing WIS because she was more familiar with the younger age group.

Mitchell’s love for kids is reflected in her passion for her job. She is very satisfied with the balance she has in her work environment, where she gets to interact with young people while also trying new things.

“I love seeing each of [the students] every morning,” Mitchell said. “Everyone makes my day special by doing different things, so I like that. Motivates me to come here every morning because I wanna see [students].”

MARTA AFERA:

Marta Afera is the newest of the group. She began working as a WIS security guard only four months ago. Being new to the job, she’s still learning the ways of being a security guard and is getting integrated in the WIS community. Afera likes the job because she gets to interact with people at school. 

“[At WIS] I learned to be patient and polite,” she said.

However, her new job is much different from her previous job as a professional circus performer.

Afera discovered her passion for contortion at the early age of 5. She was first inspired by watching an arts center nearby her house in Ethiopia train strenuously every day.

Despite the coach’s repeated requests for her to join the team, Afera stayed out of the profession until she turned 14, dissuaded by self-doubt. 

“I thought I was too skinny [to be a gymnast],” Afera said.

Nine years later, Afera started officially training for contortion, juggling and circus.

“I like [contortion] because it’s easy to do,” Afera said.

Up until COVID-19 disrupted her career in 2021, she had been performing with circus companies like UniverSoul Circus. With performances in China, Germany and across America, Afera traveled to more than 16 countries as a performer. 

“It changed my life,” Afera said. 

Although the art was physically demanding, Afera thought the three to four hours of intense training daily were worth it. However, she ended up leaving the profession in 2021 to take up teaching jobs in local recreational centers for aspiring contortionists. 

She is currently finding her job as a security guard fulfilling, meeting new people and learning new skills, but she says that if she got the opportunity to perform again, she would do so in a heartbeat.

By Amana Zaman, Camilla Ricci, Freja Jemsby, and Lucy Randall