Analiyah Castillo had just returned from the funeral service of a good friend when she saw an Instagram post seeking applications to sing the national anthem at a MiraCosta Nights event. 

She overcame her reluctance to apply by remembering that her deceased friend Ethan Ramos would have encouraged her to try out.

“He would have wanted me to do that,” she said. “He was always looking for any opportunity to be seen. I said I’m just going to do it.” 

Castillo submitted her audition tape and was selected to sing the national anthem at the March 14 game at Frontwave Arena, with the San Diego Clippers playing the Mexico City Capitanes. 

Castillo, a theater major, said she’s not nervous.

“I’m used to doing stuff like that. I’m used to performing,” she said. 

Castillo, an 18-year-old Vista resident, said she’s been singing her whole life, and often heard her parents sing. 

“I was always hearing music around the house,” she said. “I’ve been singing since I could talk.”

Castillo graduated from Rancho Bueno Vista High School last year and decided to attend MiraCosta College. She is wavering between a career as a teacher or in law enforcement, and saw MiraCosta as a way to pursue her education until she decides.

“Community college is a way to get the credit even if you’re not 100 percent sure what you want to do,” she said. 

Castillo said she has enjoyed her experience at MiraCosta College, where she performed in a bilingual production of Our Town last fall. 

“MiraCosta has been a very welcoming environment and very helpful,” she said. “I love the campus and all it has to offer. It’s an easy place for kids to get help.”