Gig Harbor High School
Anna Stewart
A three-sport athlete, senior Anna Stewart says she has learned a great deal from being involved in soccer, basketball and softball. In particular, she has taken her experiences from each sport and applied them to other things she is doing.
“It’s taught me that trying new things really helps you to grow in each respective one, and that having diverse interests can only help for the future,” said Anna.
She has played soccer and softball all four years and played basketball her freshman through junior years, and has received eight varsity letters. In addition, Anna has assisted her basketball and soccer teams in winning state championships.
“As starting point guard, I helped my team to win the 2018 3A Basketball State Championship. I also helped my soccer team as captain to win the 2018 3A State Championship,” said Anna, who also helped her fastpitch team go to state all three years so far. “We’re hoping for another state appearance this year,” she said. Anna is the captain for her fastpitch team this year and was awarded honorable mention all-state center-fielder in 2018.
In addition, Anna has been enrolled in eight AP classes and has a GPA of 3.945. She has also been a part of National Honors Society every year of high school. “I also carried out a self-directed yearlong research project my junior year on the limitations of government and commercial space organizations,” shared Anna.
In the fall she plans to attend Montana State University and has been accepted into the honors college. She will study chemical engineering and minor in building energy systems.
“After that, my plan is to attend graduate school and pursue a career in space exploration. I’m really interested in different forms and uses of energy and would like to work on ways to increase sustainability in space,” said Anna, who also plans to do a one-year study abroad program in England. “After that my plan is to attend graduate school. I’m not playing a sport in college, but I do plan on playing club soccer, basketball and training for a marathon.”
Anna said that what she enjoys most about playing sports is the challenge of achieving a goal together.
“I’m a very competitive person and work hard on my own to make myself a better player, but what I enjoy even more is forming a team that can come together and be better than the parts within it,” she shared. “I’ve been on a lot of teams through soccer, basketball and softball for both high school and club, and the recipe for a good team was never the same. There are different ages, perspectives and life experiences that people come to a team with, and having the chance to learn from my teammates and come together to achieve a goal is what makes me love playing these sports so much.”
Anna credits her coach, Megan Murray, with teaching her many lessons in life, the most important of which was “grit.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind that she prepared all of us to be mentally tough … She taught me to be strong and disciplined day in and out at practice. It wasn’t always easy, but Coach taught me that in order to achieve great things, nothing ever is.”