2020 High School Winners

Bryan is a senior at Arnold O. Beckman High School in Tustin, CA. He found out about the contest when it was assigned in his AP Environmental Science class. Bryan decided to create a video to address Sustaining Water Systems because of his interest in public health especially now as we’re seeing how the spread of disease impacts global population. He shared, “When I looked at the other topics in relation to water systems, I thought sanitation infrastructure is a big global health issue that requires a lot of attention which it often does not get.” While researching global sanitation, Bryan made the connection between the spread of infectious diseases and population density. His research also highlighted the global need for populations to work together to achieve sustainability, “we only have one planet so we all need to work together by aiding and assisting each other.”

Bryan got the idea to use Legos and stop motion one day while sitting in his bedroom brainstorming, “I was sitting on my bed thinking of what to do – I considered a PowerPoint or small animation. Then, I looked around my room and saw a Lego set and it’s a pretty big set.” For Bryan, the most challenging part of the process was condensing all the information he wanted to share to one minute. Bryan shared that, “overall the contest and the process was pretty exciting. I got to bring up an old passion that I used to have – playing with Legos and the stop motion.” Bryan’s advice for future contest participants is to start researching and filming early.

In addition to filmmaking, Bryan’s artistic pursuits include piano. He has been playing for over 12 years and in addition to playing in his school’s orchestra, he has had the pleasure of performing at Carnegie Hall, Segerstrom Hall, and even Disneyland! In his free time Bryan can be found getting Korean BBQ with his friends. He has two older sisters who both study public health and have been Bryan’s inspiration to pursue global health studies. Bryan plans to donate part of his prize money to a local animal shelter. In the fall, he hopes to follow in his sisters’ footsteps and begin his public health studies at UC Irvine.