Vecepia Poneia Towery-Robinson is an American office manager and reality TV personality, best known for winning Survivor: Marquesas, the fourth season of Survivor. Early life and career Towery was born in Portland, Oregon, where she attended Grant High School and Portland Community College before going on to receive her bachelor's degree in human services from Troy State University in Alabama. She served six years in the U.S. Air Force, assigned to the 32nd Security Police Squadron. She served in Soesterberg, Netherlands for several years and was later inducted into the Air Force's Europe Sports Hall of Fame She was stationed in Turkey during Operation Desert Storm. Towery once managed the office at a software development company. She has also worked as the guest relations manager for St. Rose Hospital in Hayward, California. Survivor In 2001, Towery decided to apply for the reality TV competition show Survivor. Despite searching the Internet and contacting CBS' New York headquarters directly, she was unable to find information on how to apply, and quickly gave up her quest. About a month later, claiming to have received a sign from God, she resumed her search and found the application information that she needed at CBS' own website. Shortly thereafter, she was cast on Survivor: Marquesas, the series' fourth season. Originally part of the Maraamu tribe, Towery was not a target at the beginning of the game. When her tribe lost the first immunity challenge, she did not join the rest of her tribe to vote out Peter Harkey, but—together with Sean Rector—voted for Sarah Jones, believing that she was not pulling her weight. When Maraamu lost immunity once again in Episode Two, she joined Rector, Rob Mariano and Jones to vote out the tribe's motherly figure, Patricia Jackson, due to her bossy attitude. When the tribe lost immunity once again in Episode Three, the new alliance of four targeted the tribe's strongest member, Hunter Ellis, and he was voted out. In Episode Four, a tribal shuffle resulted in Towery moving from the Maraamu tribe to the Rotu tribe, along with Mariano and Rector. But Jones was left on Maraamu alone and was voted out shortly after. An immunity win in Episode Six ensured Mariano, Rector, and Towery safety going into the merge. When the two tribes merged into one, Soliantu, the old-Rotu members targeted the alliance of Towery, Rector and Mariano. Seemingly doomed, Mariano was the