Winter was Sol Ruelas’s busiest season.

She had to be at Ridgeview High at 6:30 a.m., saxophone in hand to practice with the school jazz ensemble before the sun came up. After that, the bell rang for first period. Until afternoon she shuffled between classes that included AP history and calculus, the latter awarding her with a dreaded “B” — the first of her high school career.

Once school got out, Ruelas led student government meetings as class president before rushing off to swim practice. Three days a week she got out of the pool and went to Chipotle, where she worked the night shift until the restaurant’s 11 p.m. close.

After that she went to bed, saxophone nearby, ready to do it all again the next morning.

Those long days and hard work have already paid off for Ruelas, 18, who is set to receive her diploma at Ridgeview’s graduation ceremony on Saturday. She will graduate with a 4.16 GPA — in the top ten of about 200 Ravens set to be celebrated as the Class of 2025.

Later this fall, Ruelas will attend Willamette University, where she plans to major in environmental science. She said she will decide in her undergrad years whether she wants to pursue a career in the hard sciences — maybe doing fieldwork in wildlife conservation around the world — or gravitate more toward environmental policy and politics. Her long-term goal is to work for NASA.

Busy student

Ruelas was elected class president in both her sophomore and junior years. This year she won student body president, the top leadership position for the nearly 1,000 students that attend Ridgeview.

She says she’s not the most popular person in her class, but as a leader she’s learned that you have to be someone people are familiar and comfortable with.

“That’s how to get people to trust you and support you,” she said.

Reulas has long been familiar to her classmates. In addition to her time in student government, band and swimming, she has been a member of numerous clubs, including Si Se Puede, which celebrates Hispanic culture.

She even started two new clubs. In her sophomore year, Ruelas helped start a mental health awareness club at Ridgeview.

“Its probably one of my proudest accomplishments in high school,” she said.

The club created programming, in conjunction with the nonprofit To Write Love on her Arms, for a mental health awareness week. Ruelas and members of the club created and passed out surveys for students, organized activities during lunch, and built a “What I Want to Hear” wall, where students left position messages about themselves and others. Ruelas said she has a passion for mental health and thinks there should be more resources for people her age.

“There’s a lot of hard expectations, especially on the younger generation about how a lot of things in our world are going,” she said. “It ties in with my passion for environmental science. It’s a big pressure for a lot of us to fix what is going on and make the difference.”

During her junior year, Ruelas started an environmental science club, which conducted research on cafeteria practices in order to reduce food waste. In her senior year, she also joined the Redmond School District student advisory board, where she shared her experiences and made recommendations to the school board.

“One thing I did advocate (for) was more options in high school to explore what (students) can do in college or trade school,” she said.

Ruelas said she has been “drawn to leadership and any sort of leader role” as long as she can remember. Her family volunteered at their church and for the Downtown Flag Committee that places American flags across Redmond on patriotic holidays.

Upbringing

Sol is a first-generation American. Her parents are both from Mexico. The fourth of five siblings, her older brothers took different educational paths and none went on to college. Ruelas said her family and community helped her realize from a young age that she could accomplish plenty — including going to college — if she worked hard for it.

“I grew up seeing my parents and my older siblings constantly working, getting us to where we are now,” she said. “I have all these opportunities because of them.”

Ruelas said she never missed a day of school and always finished her homework. She excelled academically from a young age, and her family and teachers helped her understand that college could be a good path for her.

“They let me know that was a challenge that I could go after,” she said.

Though her time was split in many directions, Ruelas said most of her focus and fun was found in student government and band.

She said the Ridgeview band has “basically been a school family,” and that student government created strong social connections, too. The student officeholders attended a conference in Seaside each year, which helped them bond as a team — something she learned was critical to their success.
“Relationships and connections are the most important parts of accomplishing things,” she said.

Sol was one of three in her class — along with Jordan Jensen and Anahi Ornelas-Diaz —to earn the prestigious Ford Family Foundation Scholarship that covers up to 90 percent of a student’s financial needs during college. The highly-competitive scholarships are awarded to students who not only excel academically, but also show leadership skills and care for their communities.

Ruelas applied to three small, private schools in Oregon — University of Portland, Willamette and Reed College — and was accepted to all three. She said she chose Willamette because she liked the campus, their science program and their study abroad program.

Though she likes to be busy and out working, Ruelas said she likes to save Sundays for rest and relaxation. She likes to read novels — George Orwell’s “1984” is a favorite — rewatch old episodes of The Office and crochet gifts for friends.