RE Log Fall 2019

28 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2019 On When Anna Mistele ’19 stepped up to the podium at Ransom Everglades’ 2019 commencement on May 24, she became the third Mistele to give a valedictory address at RE, following her brothers John Mistele ’17 and Matt Mistele ’13 . The unfathomable achievement attracted the attention of the Miami Herald and news outlets outside South Florida. Reporters wanted to know: How did the trio do it? The question left the three valedictorians, all of whom went from RE to Stanford, uncharacteristically stumped. “I don’t think we have any special family secret,” Anna said. After some discussion – Anna in an office at RE, speaking by phone to her brothers in Palo Alto, Calif. – the siblings concluded the valedictory sweep was far more coincidental than calculated. There was no family plan. Rather, Anna said, it was a delightful consequence of a lifelong quest for knowledge. That quest began at home with parents Timothy Mistele and Julie Gagnon, who met at business school at Stanford; was furthered at Alexander Montessori School; and hammered home at Ransom Everglades. “It’s just been a road of learning new things,” Anna said. “Getting valedictorian was just a happy surprise.” As children, the Misteles made their own board games, published a family newspaper and wrote their own books. Anna recalls getting excited about the academic pursuits that excited her brothers, who generally found more joy in math and intellectual challenges than typical childhood activities. She recalled John’s delight at the proof of the Pythagorean theorem, and Matt’s excitement about his discovery of the Sierpinski triangle. The Coolest Little Sister Anna Mistele ’19 follows in her brothers’ footsteps as valedictorian Campus John Mistele ’17, Anna Mistele ’19 and Matt Mistele ’13