Mattress Firm Student Of The Week: Aryanna Ridlon

Aryanna Ridlon is a senior forward on the Capital Bruins basketball team. Aryanna is a part of the national honor society. Being in that club and on the basketball team makes Ridlons’ schedule jam packed, but it doesn’t seem to phase her. “Almost every Tuesday, first Tuesday of the month I go and make kids packs for the kids that don’t have food so we do that and a lot of the times every Friday almost I go down to the Special ED room at my school and I just hang out with all the girls we play sports I do their makeup just whatever they’re feeling that day…there is something good in all people that I can find and I want to be around that…because then it makes me feel better and it makes me a better person,” said Ridlon. Ridlons’ basketball coach, Katie Garcin-Forba says that they are lucky to have Aryanna on their team. “She just embodies what we want people in Lady Bruin basketball to be and I think she’s a great example for what our expectations are for our younger kids,” said Garcin-Forba. After high school Aryanna wants to continue to help out the community. “I want to go into the medical field, I’m thinking maybe nurse practitioner or physicians assistant…my mom was in the medical field so I’ve always grown up with knowing about it and I just find it so interesting…there are some people that do it that don’t make the other people feel good while they’re feeling good so and I know that medical field can be scary so and I want to go into peds (pediatrics) because I love children so I just want to make it not a scary place for people,” said Ridlon. For the rest of the basketball season, Ridlon and the team have their eyes on the prize. “I just hope we stay so close as we are right now and we pull it out in the end,” said Ridlon.