Senior Spotlight: Ryan Spicer

Quirky – Amiable – Observant – Reserved – Creative – Free – Humble

Today’s Senior Spotlight features student Ryan Spicer.    Ryan has attended RRHS for four years.  Prior to that, Ryan attended Parkcrest Middle School and Windemere Elementary School, both in Pflugerville. 

High School Experience

While at RRHS, Ryan was a member of the French Club and Thespians.  Outside of school he was active in the Austin Bronies Club.   Ryan enjoys playing video games, making art, watching television, and browsing the internet.  

Before high school, Ryan’s biggest fears of coming in as a freshman were not having friends, not gaining any meaningful changes to his life, and having too much homework.   At the same, making friends was one of things he looked forward to the most.   Leaving high school, Ryan is most worried about having to “start over” as a freshman in college.  He is excited about making more friends, and making the friends he has today proud of him.   His biggest accomplishment in high school is passing all of his classes and making great friends. 

Ryan’s favorite subjects in high school were art and animation.  He enjoyed those classes because he is an artist and he enjoyed spending time with peers who shared the same interests.  His least favorite subject was Personal Fitness because he is not very athletic.   The most stressful part of school according to Ryan has been attending.  He says once you get that part over with, the rest is fairly easy.   If he were to give advice to a freshman entering high school, he would recommend they get their credits done and choose their own classes.   For seniors, he would recommend that they not give too much attention to detail, but to get their work done and move on.   If he could change anything about his high school experience, Ryan would have not taken AP classes his freshman year.   He had to drop out of those classes because the workload was tough for a freshman with Asperger’s Syndrome.  Ryan would have instead liked to have worked his way up to AP classes from regular classes, once he got used to the high school experience. 

Future

After graduation, Ryan plans to go to Inks Lake with friends, stay in touch, and take a long break.  He plans to go to ACC to get his basics, and then transfer to either UT Austin or the Art Institute of Austin.   Ryan wants to be a professional game developer, and he wants to live either in the Round Rock area or in Burnet, TX.   For fun he wants to continue playing games, social networking, and he wants to explore new places. 

Random

If Ryan was in a food fight, his weapon of choice would be a kumquat, because it’s fun to say.  The color green describes him best, because it’s not bombastic and it’s very common in nature.   When asked what inspires him, Ryan answered “Underdog moves, like Dodgeball.  I am a humble guy yearning for greatness.”  His hero is a friend of his, whose feats of artistic and academic success Ryan finds inspiring, and he aspires to have similar successes in life.   Three things Ryan hopes to do in his lifetime are earning world-wide recognition as an artist, getting married, and making lots of money.   He says his best qualities are that he is artistic, creative, thoughtful, friendly, and open-minded.  Ryan is most proud of himself for just getting through the day, every day. 

Ms. D’s Turn to Brag

Expressing how proud I am of Ryan will be difficult to proclaim, as I cannot conceive that strong enough words truly exist.    I have had the pleasure of teaching and advising Ryan since his freshman year.    I am thoroughly impressed with how outgoing and affable he has become.  For the longest time it was a challenge to get him to crack a smile.  Now, Ryan uses his friendly and welcoming personality to put a smile on the faces of those around him.   He has developed strong, heartfelt relationships with his peers, Autistic and Neurotypical alike.   He recognizes the uniqueness and value in each individual and wholly embraces their differences.    Ryan has become an incredible advocate for himself and his peers.   A tad bit of a perfectionist, it used to be extremely difficult for Ryan to complete a simple writing assignment.  Now, given a bit of time, he writes the most amazing, in-depth, and personable responses and essays.  Ryan has demonstrated tremendous growth in the areas of self-expression and interpersonal skills, more so than any other student I have witnessed in my teaching career.  He has begun to recognize and embrace his own potential.  Ryno, I know you will continue to inspire those around you, because you have been a true inspiration to me!  (Bro-fist).