Anika Pettey is a senior at Pasco High School, and one of our class of 2026 valedictorians!
She has been involved with the orchestra and marching band programs, as well as NHS and running start at CBC.
“After graduation, I plan to go to the University of Washington in Seattle,” she said. “I am going to major in anthropology and museum studies.”
“My dream is to be a museum curator, and to be the director of a museum,” she continued. “I am planning on majoring in anthropology, which is the study of humanity.”
She mentioned how she’s mostly interested in working in a culture-based museum, so she feels studying anthropology and museum studies can help her learn more about how to direct and curate a museum on her own.
“I’ve always really loved the idea of history, but I always hated learning about history,” she said. “I couldn’t figure out why I hated my history classes, but then I realized it was because I was mostly just tired of learning about politics all the time.”
Instead she always felt more interested in the cultural aspects of humanity.
“I wanted to learn why humans act the way we do, and the history of our society. I wanted to learn more about how we’ve grown.”
She then researched the topic, and realized it would be an option for her to have a career in this, and since she is someone who loves teaching others, she feels this career path is a great opportunity to teach what she loves and is passionate about for a living.
Anika also feels her involvement in music classes has had a part in her gaining interest for this field.
“When we work together in groups in an artistic way, it makes me turn on my anthropology brain, and think about how we all came together as a community to create this,” she said. “It has helped me develop leadership and teamwork skills that I think will be important.”
Anika took a college-level history class here at PHS, and she also took an intro to anthropology class at CBC, where she got to learn about the different levels of anthropology. That helped her realize that this is the specific thing she wants to go into.
“I am also planning to work over the summer,” she said. “ I would like to get a job that could help me make some money over the summer, as well as give me something to do.”
“I would really love to work in childcare, like a summer camp or something like that, I think that would be really fun,” she explained. “I love working with kids, and I also feel like that would help me get more experience working with kids in public. When I become a museum director in the future, I would love to get to work with kids and teach them a lot.”
When asked what she would miss the most about PHS, she reflected on her time in music classes.
“I will miss the music program. I love it so much, and I’ve been in it for all 4 years,” she replied. “It’s gonna feel really weird not being in the same class or having the same teachers that I’ve had every single day for 4 years. I hope I’ll still be able to come back and watch the concerts.”
Anika is also planning to continue with music after high school.
“I am going to be in the orchestra program at UW,” she said. “I actually already met with the professor and talked to him about how the auditions will work.”
“I am really hoping to bring my cello up there and keep doing music stuff, because I really love it, even though I don’t want it as a career. It’s really one of my favorite hobbies.”
