Anna Smist (Thâkîwiwa Peshekethiwithowa) is a member of the Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma, Deer Clan and currently works as an admissions officer at Yale Undergraduate Admissions both as a regional officer for Illinois, Oklahoma, and New Mexico and as a Native Recruitment Coordinator. Anna graduated from Yale in 2021 as an English and History of Art double major, and was also a part of the Human Rights Program affiliated with the Schell Center at Yale Law School.
During her time as an undergraduate, she was a Peer Liaison at the Native American Cultural Center (NACC) for almost three years and was also one of the first-year counselors at Branford College during her senior year (shoutout Class of 2024!). While in Branford, Anna was joined by her friend and fellow Branfordian Woesha Hampson-Medina ’18 (Ho-Chunk) during her first year to receive 3rd place in the Final Cut competition and have yet to be outplaced by other Branford teams in recent memory.
Anna considers Branford to be a very special place that has contributed to her wanting to stick around post-graduation and is grateful to Head De La Cruz, Leslie, Susan, Tara, Joan, Jen, Dean Insley and Ozan feat. Bertie for making it such a hard place to leave over the years.