LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Charlotte Ridge makes the most out of life. The senior at Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville combines academic success, athletic prowess and community service.
Assistant Athletic Director Mackenzie Moir said, “She’s involved in everything, goes 110% every day. She doesn’t have many minutes where she’s not doing something. Every day is jam-packed.”
In the classroom, Ridge has a 4.3 GPA while taking the school’s most challenging classes and a 34 ACT score. She said her aspiration to be an entrepreneur, like both her parents, helps keep her on track.
“Thinking about my goals in the future, where I want to go and how I’m gonna get there motivates me,” said Ridge.
She’s an elite athlete, serving as captain of the SHA field hockey team that finished as state runner-up. She plays club field hockey all year and helps coach an area middle school team.
She’s a leader among her peers, serving as president of the “100 Club” that promotes school spirit and as a student council representative for all four years of high school. She also completed the Jean Frazier Leadership Institute and the Mayor’s Young Ambassador Leading Louisville Program.
Ridge makes her mark by serving the community in a variety of ways.
“It’s important to help others because you never know when you’re gonna be in that situation,” Ridge said.
That includes being a student visionary for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She started a 20-person team and created and coordinated multiple fund-raising events. She raised over $5,000 herself and her team raised nearly $61,000 to fight the disease, far surpassing their goal.
Her commitment to those less fortunate also includes work with the Louisville’s Educational Justice Program, where she tutors and mentors an underprivileged student once a week. She also volunteers weekly at Baptist Health Louisville and she founded “Snacks for Success” to produce meal kits for needy kids.
She does it all with a smile, despite going through a scary medical situation as a junior. The star athlete needed scoliosis surgery to attach a metal rod to her spine.
Ridge said, “I have it for the rest of my life because it’s fused to my spine. Basically, it just keeps it straight for the rest of my life. I have a big scar on my back from the top of my neck to the bottom and when they went through it, they had to tear apart all my back muscles in order to get to the spine. So I had to rebuild all that muscle back, which was pretty hard.”
Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she got to work, making her way back to the field in just three months.
“I just kept looking forward and seeing it as an opportunity to exercise and get back out there. Because I was unable to do something for so many weeks, I saw [recovery] as an opportunity rather than a disappointment,” Ridge said.
Moir said the way Ridge handled it was inspirational.
“Honestly, it’s not something that a lot of people even know about her, because she doesn’t use it as a crutch. She just uses it to motivate her and to enjoy each day that she gets to have a healthy life,” Moir said.
Ridge even jokes about it.
“When I’m going through airport security, it obviously dings,” she said.
Ridge said her life can be busy and chaotic, but she maintains a good outlook through it all.
“I try to look on the bright side in every situation. As corny as it sounds, just seeing the positives no matter what. Like ‘I get to go to the gym today’ or ‘I get to go to school’ instead of seeing it as a task,” Ridge said.
It’s an admirable attitude that makes Charlotte Ridge a deserving High School Scholar. She’ll attend the University of Virginia and Spectrum News 1 is proud to award her a $1,000 college scholarship.
