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Bruce Ritter

2x

Finalist

2x

Winner

General information

Hobbies & Interests

  • Drawing And Illustration
  • Running
  • Art
  • Guitar
  • Spanish
  • Physics
  • Astronomy
  • Foreign Languages
  • American Sign Language (ASL)
  • Construction
  • Exercise And Fitness
  • Astrophysics
  • Carpentry

Reading

  • Science Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Magical Realism
  • Superheros
  • Comics

I read books daily.

Bio

Hi from the west coast! I'm Bruce (he/him), and am originally from Seattle, WA, though I'm currently living in California for school. I love the earth and stars, and I hope to make a career in space travel or astronomy. Astronomical research fosters some of the purest international cooperation I can think of, and I love to connect with people all over the world. Community is the most essential part of the space research I dream of exploring, and working together is the key to humanity's future wherever we may travel in the universe. My other interests include drawing, playing guitar, learning new languages, and basketball. I love to experiment with new hobbies and learn as much as possible. Education and volunteer work is vital to me and my family as well, and as I continue my journey I work to uplift others in my community along the way. As a transgender and bisexual person, I am also closely involved with activism in my city for LGBT+ and other marginalized communities. I believe that cooperation is the key to uplifting ourselves and those around us. Thank you to all donors who make it possible for students like me to pursue our dream studies and careers!

Education

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

Bachelor's degree program

2021 – 2025

Majors:
  • Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering

Ingraham High School

High School

2017 – 2021

Miscellaneous

Desired degree level:
Bachelor's degree program
Majors of interest:
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, Electromechanical Engineering, Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other

Career

  • Counselor (year round)

    Education · Laser Childcare

    Jan 2022 – Present

  • ACE Camp Counselor

    Camp Counselor/Child Care · The Museum of Flight, Seattle WA

    Jan 2022 – Present

  • Line Cook

    Food & Beverages · Cal Poly Dining

    Jan 2022 – Jan 2022

  • Parcel Clerk

    Consumer Goods · Fred Meyer

    Jan 2020 – Jan 2022

  • Part Time Assistant

    Carpentry · Private Contractor - Sheryl Stafford.

    Jan 2016 – Present

  • Volunteer - Classroom TA and Event Staff

    Education · Seattle Public Schools, Elementary Schools

    Jan 2016 – Present

  • Gallery Guide

    Airlines/Aviation · The Museum of Flight - Seattle, WA

    Jan 2018 – Jan 2020

Miscellaneous

Dream career field:
Aviation & Aerospace
Dream career goals:
NASA engineer at JPL
Has nursing license:
No

Future Interests

  • Advocacy
  • Politics
  • Volunteering
  • Philanthropy
  • Entrepreneurship
EDucate for Eating Disorder Survivors Scholarship
Winner
Tattooing my Recovery I got my first tattoo in the same spot they took my blood at the hospital. My spider rests on my skin guarding the spot where the IVs, wires, and needles would connect. Next to it lies a swooping half heart, the National Eating Disorders Association symbol. This tattoo was a long time coming. Recovering from anorexia has been a half-decade-long path so far, and while I’ve worked my way to physical and mental health, I’ll still carry my experiences with me forever. Some nights all I do is stare at the ceiling wondering if my heart rate will slow too much if I sleep. My mind wanders as I count heartbeats, and I remember the nights in the hospital beds, then those after late rides back home from treatment centers. After that, I recall the late-night study sessions as I sprinted to catch up on missed school. Long nights were a staple of my recovery process (If nothing else, my experience did give me the ability to put in crazy overtime). I climbed mountains of mental and physical work to achieve the health I have now. I'm happy for the work, although I wasn't always, because I've realized how many new opportunities recovering brings. My second tattoo is a kitten sleeping on my upper arm. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten to know my family’s two wonderful cats. When we adopted them I was a year into recovery. Every time Yuri (the younger furball) cuddles on my chest, he reminds me how much in life I would've missed if anorexia had beat me. I would never have met the cats, tried skateboarding, nor learned how to knit. I wouldn't have graduated high school, gotten into college, nor started work in a lab to start my dream career. I would never have met some of the people who became my closest friends. So all in all, it's a pretty good thing I didn't die! Instead, I'm recovering. loudly recovering too. My tattoos have been the opener for many conversations about NEDA, eating disorders, and how to help people recover. The artists warned me when I got my tattoos that people would ask, but to me, the questions are a beautiful opportunity. I hope people will ask. I hope someone suffering may recognize the symbol and reach out for support. I wish that people will be open to information, open to clearing away misconceptions the public has about eating disorders. In short, I want people to survive like I have. Misconceptions about anorexia and recovery hurt all sufferers and survivors. People dismiss me because I ate something in front of them, or because I'm not stick-thin, or because I'm a man. They'll dismiss my friend for her darker skin, or someone else I met in treatment because she doesn't purge. We all heard the dismissals and internalized them. I didn't seek treatment for years thinking I couldn't have an eating disorder. So much misinformation is out there stopping people from seeking help. One conversation about a tattoo at a time, I hope to reach more people who are still drowning in their own misconceptions. Through extatically loud openness about this stigmatized illness, we can all become more healthy. I've thrived through being open about my hard work and the rewards I reaped by surviving anorexia, and through helping others do the same.
Lo Easton's “Wrong Answers Only” Scholarship
1. I deserve this scholarship because I am the main character of this TV show, and the main character always gets the big scholarship in the end. Thank you in advance :). 2. My goal is... to make heaps and heaps of money! Hear me out: I wish to train goldfish competitively, which will greatly benefit my community. Goldfish are a criminally underutilized resource that must be seized. I will, with financial gains from a job requiring university degrees, purchase many goldfish and harness their swimming power to support entire cities. 3. When I was born, I couldn't even walk or talk for 2 years. I struggled, and at times couldn't even support my own head. I made it to bipedalism through my determination. Each day when I was little I would try to walk, fail inevitably, but get back up again. Because the most important part is to get back up. Eventually, getting back up happens more often then giving up, and soon, you'll find yourself walking and talking like a real toddler.
New Year, New Opportunity Scholarship
,_ __ | \ / | | | / / | - | / / | | ;---._ | ` _ / / ; | /` ) / / | / /_/\_/\ |/ / | ( ' \ '---- | \ `. / | | | | Peace! I'm the guy who talks a lot: with his hands, to his friends, and about anything in particular. I'm short but I know that just means I can squeeze into more places. I want to know everything about anything in the world, especially if it seems cool (Most things do in my opinion). I think it's nice to meet everyone, yourself included!
Pettable Pet Lovers Scholarship
My cat Starbuck loves to pretend that my legs are a fort to hide behind. I may think he wants to cuddle out of love but no! He's using my legs to ambush his little brother (our other cat Yuri, not shown). Don't let the cuteness fool you, he has the mind of a brilliant tactician.
Freddie L Brown Sr. Scholarship
Submitted is a photo of my piece "Cat Burglar, New Hire". In case the words are difficult to read from the photo, the words in the piece say "Be a cat burglar they said... ...easy money they said... ...didn't mention the claws..." Thank you for your consideration.
Bold Acts of Service Scholarship
My mom was a single parent and an elementary school teacher for most of my childhood. She taught me the importance of supporting others in my family and community, so now I give back whenever I can. I volunteer in the Seattle Public Schools district to help with the enormous workload that teachers have. I work at Kimball Elementary every summer. During middle and high school, I worked there after school throughout the year. I volunteer within two spheres of the public school system: education and community health. To ease teachers' educative work burden, I help set up classroom furniture, create posters and murals, and organize markers and books. To help the Kimball community, I collect and sort for clothing drives, pack meals or gift cards, and sometimes drive donations to families. During Thanksgiving break the past two years, I drove turkey dinners to a dozen Kimball Elementary families around the neighborhood as part of a community effort to secure meals for everyone during the holidays. I've also volunteered outside of Seattle Public Schools, albeit still to educate young minds. I volunteered from 2019 to 2020 at the Seattle Museum of Flight as a guide. My service involved answering guests' questions, sharing information about new exhibits, and ensuring everyone can learn new things during their visit. I also staffed special events, such as the Washington State Engineering Fair when students of all backgrounds come to learn about engineering fields and research opportunities. Another event I volunteered at was the annual 2019 Star Wars Day, where I helped teach young children to read using beloved Star Wars books and cartoons. Volunteering is vital to many facets of a community. I work to help children learn and keep them fed while they do it. Like my mom taught me, anything can help.
Bold Giving Scholarship
In my large family, sharing everything is the norm. We share almost everything, including any burdens one of us may carry. When my mom and her three young children needed a place to stay, my grandma shared hers. At the time I was too young to realize that most people don't move in with relatives for months in between houses and apartments, but now I understand how much or her limited resources my grandma was giving to us. My grandma did not grow up with money and didn't raise my mom with any either. She raised her to be a kind and devoted person —a person who knew the importance of sharing. In turn, my mom taught my brothers and me the importance of sharing and of giving back. Due to my upbringing, and to realizing how much I've been helped by others, I give back to my family and community whenever I can. I regularly volunteer at the elementary school where my mom works, as I've done at schools she's worked for in the past. I've seen throughout my childhood that teachers are overworked and underpaid, so I share some of that work. I share the labor of setting up classrooms and putting together materials for students, cleaning hallways, and checking people in during events. Volunteering at schools is rewarding not just for the relief it gives to teachers but also because I can give back to the children in my community. Kimball elementary —my mom's current school— teaches many students from low-income families. I volunteer in the community to share with them as well. Putting together food and clothing donations during breaks and driving meals around the neighborhood are ways I contribute to my community how my grandma had shared with my mom during my childhood.
Bold Simple Pleasures Scholarship
My favorite breakfast starts with a cup of instant café de olla. I use instant because its cheap, and I have no clay pot, but there is still the canela and piloncillo to make it sweet. This drink can drive away the foggiest and dreariest of mornings with its mixing sweet and bitter flavors. And it only takes a minute in the microwave! With the brightest drink in all creation out of the microwave, I can continue my morning with small cactuses. There are two of them on my desk in the dorm room, and they are "Christmas Cactuses" because my siblings and I show love by buying each other matching trinkets every year. These beauties have made it to 4 years old! They probably can't recognize that I greet them every morning, yet it's still something I love to do. They also sometimes need repositioning, because the sunlight travels in strange directions through the dorm hall windows, and it seems to find new angles through the window pane almost every day. Its exciting to see a sunbeam in a different position from the day before, if a bit confusing at first (It was the positioning of open windows in the dorm next door, which was cool to discover). The Christmas Cactuses, much like my coffee, also don't alot much time, but they brighten my day all the same. Life can be stressful. It can be long and it can be very dull. Small bright moments, however, are often all it takes for me to go to bed smiling at the end of the day. I had a fantastic cup of coffee earlier! I saw a friend! I found an even better location for the Christmas Cactus pot! Simple moments to be happy and relaxed can make an amazing difference.
Bold Turnaround Story Scholarship
In sophomore year I nearly lost my life to anorexia. I was hospitalized for months with half a heart rate and failing organs, taken from classes and friends and everything I loved, but in the hospital I did not give up living. I kept dreaming for my future. My education was still constantly on my mind. I aimed to go to university, and worried that I'd lose the opportunity if I dropped after leaving the hospital. Resolving to keep pursuing my dream, I hit the books hard during every available slice of time between treatment, sleep, and the few school periods I could attend. In the end I only dropped one quarter of one class. I am particularly proud of how I was able to teach myself AP Calculus. Because I missed the class period every day for treatment, my teacher told me I'd have to drop the class. I wouldn't give up my chance to learn my favorite subject however. Studying the textbook and researching online, I proved to him I could do it by earning an A and passing the AP test. I hope I'm never in that position again, but I learned a lot about myself and how capable I am when determined. I am determined to continue my education and am now pursuing an aerospace engineering degree at Cal Poly. My drive comes both from my passion for space travel and also my past brush with death. Overcoming an almost-deadly illness changed my perspective on life. I don't ever want to settle for less. Could I have dropped classes? Yes, but in coming so close to death I realized that There was still so much I wanted to explore, experience, and achieve. With my one life I will reach all the goals I set for myself.
Bold Mental Health Awareness Scholarship
In the few months I was able to attend daily treatment for my intense eating disorder, I met many people for whom such treatment was absolutely vital. Without treatment and help from medical professionals, the mortality rate of anorexia is 20%. If patients are able to receive medical attention, their chances of dying are reduced to 2%. Two of the fellow teenagers I met while hospitalized, who needed immediate attention to survive, were forced to stop treatment prematurely because they could not pay. In the United States of America, the most practical solution for many health issues is to implement a universal health care program. Too many people in America are forced to deal with their mental health issues alone and uneducated because they have no access to necessary care. This is a travesty. No one should ever have to go without medical care because of finances, and I believe that access to help should be an uninfringeable right. If the United States adopted a universal health care system, something over 150 countries have achieved, everyone in the nation would benefit. Americans could seek help whenever their mental health demanded it. Additionally, everyone would have the opportunity to "check up" on their mental and physical health. The majority of Americans do not go to regular health check ups, much less mental health specific appointments. Not going to appointments means these people miss out on preventative care, which can be life saving in many cases. The most often cited reason for not regularly going to a doctor or therapist is a lack of money or insurance. This is why we need universal free health care. People who are currently forced to put aside their mental health issues would be able to seek the help they desperately need.
Mental Health Movement x Picmonic Scholarship
My battle with anorexia started during eighth grade and, although I am in recovery, has continued to impact me to this day. It started with feeling completely out of control in my own life, tossed around by separated parents and bullied at school by toxic "friends". When puberty started, my budding eating disorder was joined by intense body dysmorphia and became completely unbearable. I sank into an obsession with burning calories. It devoured all of my time and thoughts, and in sophomore year almost took my life. I developed bradycardia so bad I had a heartbeat of 30 bpm for months. I am lucky to have survived, and am exceedingly grateful to the loved ones who have supported me through recovering. In addition to my family, I owe my life to the doctors who treated me, especially a nurse I met at Seattle Children's Hospital. Mr. Joon was the first and only medical professional to explain to me what was going on. Because I was in the throws of a mental illness, I truthfully couldn't figure out that I had an eating disorder. When I started loosing weight I had been overweight, something doctors often commented on, so I believed that I was being healthy by fanatically loosing fat. Mr. Joon sat me down and asked me if I knew my diagnoses, then spent over an hour explaining the science behind what I was feeling and how I was delusional. His candor was vital to my recovery, and he was the only one to treat me like I deserved to know my own health. As I recover, it has become crystal clear to me that more education is needed surrounding eating disorders. I want to use my experiences to show how easy it is to slip into deadly side effects of anorexia, and promote ways to help family members who are sick. I especially advocate for telling patients exactly the disease they are experiencing, so that they can trust their doctors. Clear dialogue between patient and doctor is necessary and lacking in many cases. Truthful care is the best help.
Education Matters Scholarship
I should’ve been in my AP Computer Science class, joking around and working on coding, but instead I was at Children’s Hospital with half a heartbeat and wires on my chest. At the start of sophomore year, I divided my attention between my studies and my battle with bradycardia —a low heart rate. By the end of September, the disorder was winning. One night in the emergency room turned into over three weeks of hospitalization. After I could finally be released from hospitalization, I attended daily outpatient treatment for several months. Although my health was more vital, my education was still constantly on my mind. I aimed to earn an IB diploma, and worried that I'd lose it if I had to drop classes. Resolving to keep pursuing my dream, I hit the books hard during every available slice of time between treatment, sleep, and the few school periods I could attend. In the end I only dropped one quarter of one class. I am particularly proud of how I was able to teach myself AP Calculus. Because I missed the class period every day for treatment, my teacher told me I'd have to drop the class. I wouldn't give up my chance to learn my favorite subject however. Studying the textbook and researching tutorials online, I proved to him I could do it by earning an A and passing the AP test. I hope I'm never in that position again, but I learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of when I'm determined. I am determined to continue my education and am now pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering at California Polytechnic University. My drive comes both from my passion for space travel and also my past brush with death. Overcoming an illness that nearly killed me changed my perspective on life. I don't ever want to settle for less. Could I have dropped classes and academic honors? Yes, but I aimed to apply to difficult universities for a engineering education, and I couldn't bring my self to give up on that future. I truly realized that you only live once, something I didn't understand as a healthy child. With my one life I will reach all the goals I set for myself, because I'd hate to reach the end disappointed. I've always adored space and science fiction, and as I grew older I learned that the stars belong strongly in science as well as fiction. Space research is vital to our future. As humanity expands we require more and more resources, which can be obtained with the developing asteroid mining industry. We need more space, which could be found by diligent astronomers scanning the universe for earth-like planets. We need to work together on projects like the international space station, which expand our collective knowledge and foster stronger connections between all the earth's peoples. This is my dream: Everyone, working together, using our chances at life to advance our collective understanding and resources. There was a significant chance that I'd die back in my sophomore year. Every day I am grateful that I had the help and strength to fight my illness. My gratitude drives me to use my life to the fullest. I aim to obtain an aerospace engineering education and use it in cooperation with fellow scientists all around the world. As long as I am able, I will refuse to settle for less.
SkipSchool Scholarship
The band Iron Maiden beautifully wraps up and presents a subject like the best gift I've ever gotten. Their song "Empire of the Clouds" portrays the faults and eventual fall of zeppelin travel through the R101 's story, and they tell this story better than anyone ever could with words. The music changes from proud to desperate, high to low, majestically perfect! All Iron Maiden songs teach and captivate me like magic, so I love them all.
Bruce Ritter Student Profile | Bold.org