According to 17-year-old Katie Pagel, the fact that her parents always taught her and her siblings the importance of having a strong work ethic and good attitude has helped her greatly throughout the years.
“My parents (Julie and Steve Pagel) are extremely supportive of me in all of my endeavors, from both inside and outside of school,” Pagel said.
Pagel, who attended Prairie High School, graduated this past June. Although she didn’t participate in Clark College’s Running Start program while in high school, Pagel said she was enrolled in multiple AP classes at Prairie and she was also valedictorian of the 2012 senior class, along with Jamie Mackiewicz.
When she wasn’t thinking about academics during her high school years, Pagel focused on sports. She was a three-sport varsity athlete, participating in volleyball, softball and bowling. She was also the treasurer of the Health Science Careers Club and was the president of Prairie’s branch of the National Honor Society. After graduating from high school with a final grade point average of 4.0, Pagel said she plans to attend Purdue University and intends to major in Health and Disease Biology.
Pagel had several choices when deciding where to attend college, as she said she was accepted to Purdue, Syracuse University, Ohio State University and numerous others. Pagel has two older siblings, Alison, 22, who graduated from Colorado State University with a major in Animal Science and Andrew, 21, who is currently enrolled in the Electrical Engineering department at the University of Washington.
“My family has helped me to be successful in school in many ways,” Pagel said. “I have two older siblings and I learned how to work hard and push myself from watching both of them. My parents have always emphasized that they just want me to do my best and that has always been a motivator for me in the classroom.”
Outside of school, Pagel said she loves reading. She said she also enjoys music, playing the drums and has always loved singing/dancing and musical theater.
“Even though my singing/dancing skills are extremely limited,” she said.
Pagel said she also enjoys watching TV and is a “movie junkie.” She said she also loves hanging out with all of her “fantastic and ridiculously entertaining” friends.
