Desire to excel drives See, Wasmundt

Naselle High School valedictorian Taylor Wasmundt and salutatorian Haleigh See are passionate about their prospective careers in health care, their love of sports-- volleyball, basketball, track and softball--and the 22 people in their graduating class, 12 of whom have been together since preschool.

“We are really close,” they both say.

“We’re not divided into academic nerds, sports and drama groups,” See said. “We all have to work together.”

Both students have had a strong desire to excel academically, and both balance that with a desire to be close to family and friends.

“I wanted to be valedictorian since I was a freshman,” Wasmundt said. See’s mother was salutatorian at Naselle High School when she graduated.

“People laughed because I would do extra credit when I got an A minus, because it was important to me," See said.

Wasmundt plans to attend Lower Columbia College, focusing on nursing and then pursue a bachelor’s degree. She’s planning to become qualified as a certified nursing assistant this summer.

“I’m passionate about nursing, and medical shows, everything,” she said.

Wasmundt’s father is an emergency nurse, and she wants to be a trauma nurse as well. Her stepmother is also a nurse. For her senior project she researched various nursing specialties.

“Math is my thing,” she said. Her strength in math made her consider becoming a doctor, but she decided being a nurse would be more consistent with having a family.

After visiting Manhattanville College in Purchase, upstate New York, where she received a volleyball scholarship, See made a decision to stay closer to home. She will attend Washington State University in Pullman and work toward a career as a physical therapist.

“It was too far for this little farm girl,” she said. Two classmates are attending WSU and one will be at University of Idaho.

See said she is proud of her Finn heritage and researched three great-grandparents who emigrated from Finland for her senior project. She worked with May Adair who “mapped the Wirkkala, Johnson and Penttila families and explained the connections.”

See learned that her great-grandmother, Sophie Rinell Penttila followed her husband to this country, traveling alone with six children, and then operated a boarding house successfully in this area before her husband, Andrew was able to reunite with her.

“It’s exciting that she was independent and successful,” See said.

Both See and Wasmundt said they were amazed at how quickly the time has gone this year, but they’re excited about moving on.

See has four stress fractures in her back, which she said, “changed everything” about her year. She said the help she received from physical therapists made her more committed to making a difference to athletes who are passionate about sports.

Wasmundt said she can’t wait to begin helping people, to be on her own, and to experience life “out of sheltered Naselle.”