Anna and Rebekah Riley Bring Community to Watauga Through a Unique Upbringing

Anna and Rebekah Riley pose for their Senior pictures on October 6, 2025. Anna and Rebekah attended Watauga briefly during their freshman year and returned during their junior year. They will graduate from Watauga in 2026. Photo credits: Rebekah Riley

Bethany Atwood, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

Early morning FCA meetings, a choir concert, or the soccer field are just a few of the places you might have spotted sisters Anna and Rebekah Riley. From sun up to sun down, Anna and Rebekah have filled their schedules with serving and interacting with Watauga’s community. The two seniors' involvement at Watauga is nothing short of impressive, but their participation is motivated by something that isn’t obvious on the surface. Growing up overseas, Anna and Rebekah's lives have been unorthodox from the beginning. The distinctive experiences the two had growing up have continued to be key parts of their lives both outside and inside of the Watauga community.

Despite their dedicated involvement at Watauga and their community, Boone is not where the two called home originally. Anna and Rebekah were born in Hong Kong and China respectively but raised in Taipei, Taiwan.

“We were in Taiwan because our parents are missionaries and the Lord placed us in Taiwan to reach college students for the first ten years, and that ministry just continued while we were there,” said Anna. “My dad would go and speak to different colleges and teach English lessons, which opened doors to spreading the gospel.”

The experience of living overseas is a unique one, and it’s no surprise that the United States and Asia possess big differences. Cultural and language discrepancies create an environment that can be both hard to navigate and incredibly rewarding.

“In Asia, you'll see four year olds walking the streets by themselves because there's sidewalks everywhere,” said Anna. “It's very safe, and there's just a lot more public transportation. Food is super different in Asia, they use a lot of rice and fermented foods and lots of dumplings and very seasoned foods.”

The challenges in growing up multicultural aren’t just learning another culture's customs or eating unfamiliar foods. Having such a distinct upbringing can affect the way one interacts with people from both cultures.

“When you're having a conversation with someone else that you're meeting for the first time, it's not necessarily super hard to talk to them, but when you have such different upbringings, things that may seem normal to you to talk about are weird to them,” said Rebekah.

The transition between Taiwan and Boone was rocky at times, being faced with an unfamiliar environment and culture. However, this was an opportunity for the sisters to find a community where they didn’t have to choose between cultures and were able to embrace both.

“I am on the soccer team, I'm the co-president of the Asian Culture Club as of this year, and I'm on the Student Leadership Team for FCA,” said Rebekah. “I just try to come to as many events that Watauga has as possible, just because I think it's important to be a part of your community.”

The sisters’ commitment and involvement has made an impression on Watauga, and it’s something they find joy in doing. Rebekah’s active participation in clubs and sports has given her chances to grow within Watauga’s community.

“The most rewarding part of being a part of the Watauga community is the connections and the relationships that I build here, because I feel like those connections will help me in the future,” said Rebekah. “And it's just really good to be involved, because I think we should be involved where we're at.”

Anna is no different, also being heavily involved at Watauga. A notable commitment for Anna is being a part of the leadership team for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a club at Watauga High School. 

“I think the most rewarding part about being involved at Watauga is just the sense of community that it brings,” said Anna. “The Fellowship of Christian Athletes club has been probably my highlight of the year, because I love Jesus, and being able to share that love with the people around me and being encouraged by the people around me who also love Jesus has been huge.”

Due to their unique upbringing and experiences, Anna and Rebekah have acquired the ability to connect with people of all backgrounds. This understanding has made them an integral part of Watauga’s community.

“I think for anybody who is struggling to find their place at Watauga, my encouragement for them would be to just plug yourself into random places and go from there,” said Anna, “And I think you'll find a lot of community in places you wouldn't expect.”

The two sisters’ involvement in both extracurricular activities and serving their community have not gone unnoticed. It’s not difficult to find someone that can attest to their character and dedication to their community.

“There's not many people that have had their worldview, where they've lived and grown up in a different part of the world, and understand different cultural viewpoints and understand different ways of seeing the world,” said social studies teacher Samuel Vining. “Because of that differing viewpoint, they just have a knowledge of empathy that I think is really powerful, being able to put themselves in other people's shoes, understanding where they come from. They're just the kind of people that you want to be around.”