Wasco High’s Braydon Ricks Carries Mother’s Life Lessons to Westwood

When Braydon Ricks first walked into the Wasco High School cafeteria as an eighth grader exploring high school programs, he carried a football tucked under his arm everywhere he went.

For the staff at Wasco High School’s Wonderful Agriculture Career Prep Academy, it was impossible not to notice. They asked him about it, and Braydon gave the kind of answer educators hear from young student-athletes all the time. He dreamed of playing professional football someday.

What nobody realized at the time was that the quiet teenager was carrying something much more important than a football. He had a strong hold on the invaluable lessons provided by one very special person in his life.

Fast-forward four years as Wasco High seniors prepare to graduate Thursday, Braydon ranks among the top of his class with a 4.44 GPA, has two associate degrees from Bakersfield College in hand, and a full academic scholarship to UCLA.

But that success hasn’t always come easily. Far from it.

Braydon never knew life with a traditional two-parent household. From the time he was 2 years old, he was raised by his grandmother, who became the only steady presence in his life during an early childhood filled with uncertainty. She’s the woman Braydon simply calls “Mom.”

“I give her that honor and respect, not out of obligation, but out of the pure love, admiration, and eternal gratefulness I will forever hold in my heart,” Braydon said.

He describes her as both his foundation and motivation. She made sure he got to school, encouraged him through difficult moments, and pushed him to strive for more. She also encouraged faith, which became a central part of his upbringing and something Braydon says continues to guide him today.

Whether it was making the weekly drive to church in Bakersfield or offering encouragement during difficult seasons of life, Braydon said his mother taught him perseverance long before he fully understood how much he would need those lessons.

“Without the values she instilled in me, there would be no Braydon Ricks today,” he said. “She shaped exactly who I am.”

Specifically, she taught him resilience. Integrity. Grit. And, maybe most importantly, how to keep going when life became difficult.

“She always told me, ‘Life is going to kick you while you’re down, but you gotta kick back,’” Braydon recalled.

Earlier this year, Braydon’s mother passed away and he found himself having no choice but to kick back harder than he ever had before. Even through the extreme grief that followed, he has stayed focused on the future she worked so hard to help him build.

“Every major milestone I hit, especially heading off to UCLA, is because of the sacrifices she made and the love she gave me,” Braydon said. “She’s the reason I refuse to give up, no matter what.”

At Wasco High School, Braydon became known as someone who pushed himself in every area of life. Academically, he never earned below a 4.0 GPA on a report card during high school, while concurrently completing 60 combined high school and college courses.

“Balancing college classes on top of high school workloads, practices, and life was a serious grind,” Braydon admitted. “There were plenty of late nights where I questioned why I was doing it.”

Still, he believed graduating high school with such a significant head start on his future would make every lost hour of sleep worthwhile.

He also excelled in athletics, competing in both football and tennis. He earned Second Team All-League honors in football and was recognized as the team’s Most Scholastic player. In tennis, he served as varsity team captain and was also named Most Scholastic.

“Football taught me mental toughness, accountability, and what it means to be part of a brotherhood,” Braydon said. “Tennis is the exact opposite. It’s pure mental independence. When you’re out on that court alone, there’s no one to save you.”

Wasco High School Head Football Coach Kyle Wedel said Braydon consistently stood out because of the way he carried himself both on and off the field.

“He was the kind of player you could trust completely,” Wedel said. “He was accountable, coachable, respectful, and held himself to a high standard both on and off the field.”

One of the moments that meant the most to Wedel came after Braydon reached back out to thank him for the high expectations and challenges placed before him during high school.

“That meant a lot to hear,” he said. “It confirmed what we always believed about him. Braydon embraces challenges, grows through them, and comes out stronger because of it.”

As he prepares to trade Wasco for Westwood, Braydon says the hardships that shaped him and the sacrifices his mother made are what he hopes to carry forward most. He believes adversity can either define a person or strengthen them, depending on the choices they make and the mindset they choose to carry each day. It’s a lesson he now hopes to pass on to others around him.

“You may not always be given the best opportunities, resources, or have the upper hand in a lot of situations,” he said. “All you can control is how you respond to adversity.”

For Braydon, a difficult day at school did not change how he treated his younger siblings at home. A disappointing performance on the football field did not stop him from returning to practice and putting in the work on Monday.

“You can even lose your mom to cancer unexpectedly during your senior year and still choose to keep moving forward,” Braydon said. “Hard times make strong people. It’s up to you to decide whether you choose to be strong today.”