Upon entering high school, Arvada West High School senior Braiden Portie admits that he felt everything from fear to excitement. He didn’t know what to expect.

“I thought I’d be like the little kid of the school surrounded by all these giant kids, and I did not know if I would fit in or not or who I’d be hanging out with,” Portie remembers.

Portie, who has found his place over the last four years through his extracurriculars, his involvement in golf, and the Performing Arts department, credits these places as sources that have influenced the ways that he has “changed,” throughout high school. 

He describes that as a freshman  “I feel like I was kind of afraid to be myself. I don’t know if that was like puberty or something.  I feel like I was afraid to share my passions with other people. Being in high school and surrounding myself with everybody has made me grow in so many good ways.”

Golf:

Since he was a kid, Portie has grown up surrounded by golf. His dad, a professional golf player, bought him his first set of right-handed clubs. However, Portie would flip them over to play as a “leftie,” mirroring his dad. He grew up playing in Junior Golf Alliance events, moving up into different divisions as he grew up.

Coming into the A-West  Boys Golf program, Portie says, “ I was a little kid who competed in some tournaments in the summertime. Now I was playing with all of these bigger kids and surrounded in a group with different ages, so I had no idea what to expect from these older kids.”

However, these “older kids” were anything but intimidating to Porite; they actually became a motivation and inspiration for him to continue growing as a golfer. With the help of former A-West students, Luke Landskov and Yusuke Ogi, Portie worked his way up through the golf program, starting off only on JV his freshman year. He then became a “swing player,” officially on the JV team but occasionally participated in varsity events during his sophomore year.  As a junior, he played on varsity. Now as a senior, he continues on varsity with his younger brother, freshman Collin Portie.

“ It’s really cool to play on the same team as him and get to compete against everyone else while we are brothers. It means a lot to me because he is a good golfer and fun to hang out with, ”Portie’s brother Collin comments.

While some of the crowning moments of Portie’s time on the golf team at A-West have included missing “State only by a shot,” in the ‘23-’24 season; however, he is insistent that the community that he has found has been one of the best parts of his experience.

“They’re all a bunch of great honest guys. The art of golf is…mostly the golden rule of just staying truthful and stuff like that. It’s a big part of that. Every one of those guys on the team are just good and honest people that I like surrounding myself with. But they’re also very driven. We’re a pretty competitive team, and we have a good program going right now.”

Outside of school, Portie competes in tournaments as an individual. Over the past year, he has competed in out-of-state tournaments in Wyoming and Oklahoma. Alongside his friend and teammate, fellow senior Kota Ogi, Portie attended a golf camp in the summer of 2024 in Wyoming.

According to Kota, this camp consisted of doing drills to work on “vital skills for golf,” as well as playing matches. For Kota, Portie has had a major role in his time with golf in and outside of A-West. 

“I wouldn’t have persevered for so long to try and become a better golfer without him. I remember after every time I would tell him I wanted to quit, he would always convince me one more day, and I would stay. He both brings me up as a friend and a player,” Kota comments.

Another experience that Portie says he will “cherish forever,” happened in September of 2023, when he traveled to Florida to compete in the Hurricane Junior National Championship. He has also played in another Hurricane Junior event in Colorado in which he placed third.

Recently Portie also won his first Junior COPGA tournament.

From his dad to his brother to his teammates and friends, there is one name that stands out to Portie when it comes to influences: A-West Golf Coach John Gallup, who Portie has worked alongside both on the golf course and in the classroom.

Portie explains,“we share a love of the game, and I feel like that has grown us really closer along with all the time that we’ve spent together. Being with him has been a really great experience. He’s been a great mentor to me and made me a better guy in general”.

Gallup mirrors this as he mentions that “Braiden’s awesome. We banter back and forth as if he was my kid, really. I can tell him anything, say anything to him.  I think he probably feels the same way. We give each other grief and have fun, so yeah, I mean I like Braiden a lot he’s a really good kid.”

Performing Arts:

The three performing arts offered at Arvada West – theater, choir, and band – are where Portie has found a sense of home over the last four years.

“Everyone in the performing arts is just so welcoming and friendly, and they’re all so kind to one another. They lift each other up instead of pushing each other down. It’s all about love and the love that you share with other people, it’s so important. Getting to be with people who love the same thing that I do, it’s been really special,” he explains.

Portie’s love for all things performing arts began with a love for music. According to him, without music, which has “ been a great thing that I’ve learned to surround myself with,” Portie wouldn’t be the person he is today. 

Choir:

Perhaps the biggest role music has in Portie’s life is through his involvement in A-West’s Choir Department as a tenor. Portie has been a part of five different choirs throughout his time at A-West: Free Agents, Varsity Tenor Bass, Vocal Showcase, and two acapella groups, Mantastic Four and Vocal Chords.

Despite his consistent role in choir, Portie mentions that choir just happened to pop up into his schedule as a freshman. He decided to stick with it, and as he puts it he simply “fell in love,” with choir.

Portie’s part in acapella groups like the Mantastic Four and Vocal Chords are a part of what makes him unique as a vocalist since these groups are selective.

In Mantastic Four- an acapella group of four male singers- Portie has particularly grown as a vocalist because it is a smaller group. The group is also unique and does performances for the school such as singing during annual Valogram deliveries.

Similarly, another selective acapella group, Vocal Chords, is an area where Portie has a strong presence. According to senior Isaac Caroll- who is a part of both Mantastic Four and Vocal Chords – Portie has “ a very strong voice and a huge personality that makes Chords’ enjoyable.” 

Caroll also mentions that “ Braiden brings a smile, energy, and an amazing voice,” to Mantastic Four.

Portie also joined the choir department on their trip to London last year. For him, this was his first time traveling out of the country. He got to have experiences such as singing in a cathedral with students from around the globe and being mentored by Voces8, a Grammy-nominated vocal group.

Jesse Vanlandigham, Orchestra and Vocal teacher at A-West who has worked with Portie through Vocal Chords recalls a memory from this trip that stands out to him when reflecting on his time with Portie. He describes a moment when Portie and his friends “stopped on a busy London street to participate in a free karaoke station that was set up on the sidewalk. The group sang “Baby” by Justin Bieber, and Braiden enthusiastically performed the rap section from memory for all the people of London to hear.”

Theatre:

Portie has also been a part of the world of theatre at A-West.

Portie says that he never had an interest in theater until his middle school, Drake Middle School, put on a performance of The Lion King . Inspired by the recent live-action movie at the time, Portie auditioned and played the role of Young Simba, leading him to find a new love of theater.

As a freshman, Portie knew that he wanted to take part in the 2022 Spring Musical. He was especially “thrilled” when he found out it was The Addams Family, “because it was another movie that I’ve watched.” 

He also shares that he ‘Youtub-ed’ the musical online, and I just fell in love with it. I just kept watching it over and over, every weekend that I could. “

Portie played an ensemble role in The Addams Family.

Though he took a break from theater his sophomore year to focus on school, Portie re-entered the Arvada West Theatre Company as a junior feeling more “prepared and ready,” to take part in the production of Something Rotten. Portie played one of the lead roles as Nigel Bottom. The process of reintegrating himself into theater was difficult, he admits, but again, the community of people he was around made him feel as if he wasn’t doing any work at all.

For his character Nigel, Portie felt as if he didn’t have to do any work at all to bring his character to life, since he resonated with him as a “happy-go-lucky” person and someone who “ look[s] up to others.”.

A-West Theatre Director, Lindsey Welsh, describes Portie as an actor who is a “chameleon,” and takes the audience on a journey with the character. 

She also describes him as one of the” kindest and hardworking students she has ever worked with”.

“ He’s just got a wonderful demeanor. No matter what the challenge is, he takes everything very much head-on but just keeps a great attitude throughout it all,” Welsh comments.

She recalls a time during rehearsals for Something Rotten when Portie had a solo song, “To Thine Own Self”. ” Welsh recalls the moment in the show where ” there’s this really big high note that he had to hit. It was one of the very first times that he hit it, and the joy that came over his face was just so perfect and precious. That just sums him up as a person.”

After months of work,  and seeing it pay off,  Portie says that the show nights for Something Rotten were something that he will never forget. “ My parents showed me a lot of support, going probably four nights. They brought everyone they could to the show. It was a lot of support for me and I really appreciate that that’s something I’ll never forget for sure,” he comments.

Portie plans on returning for the 2025 Spring Musical, Sweeney Todd; The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Band:

Since fifth grade, Portie has also been constantly involved in band, playing the trumpet. Here he has gotten to achieve one of his goals of learning how to play an instrument. 

Likewise, to theater and choir, Portie again emphasizes the importance of collaboration and being a part of creating music with others.

Reflection on high school:

When he thinks back on the last four years,  Portie notes that the biggest way that he has changed is that he has become more open and has felt more comfortable being himself. He credits the performing arts for helping him get to this point.

Though Portie has found himself and grown through his different passions, he is also hitting the realization that he won’t be able to do the things that he loves regularly anymore.

“I don’t get to play in a band every day or play my trumpet every day when I graduate. Or you know, do as much theater as I would like to when I graduate. It has been a tough realization for me but I feel like one thing that I took away was that I really enjoyed my time when I did it. “

When Portie thinks back to who he was as a freshman – someone who was scared to be himself – he would tell his freshman self to “be yourself and to just try everything. Just do everything that you can, because you have a limited time in high school where you get to do all this great stuff, and the fun activities, and enjoy it with some fun people and actually have fun for that amount of time.”

Now, Portie is at the point where he is grateful for the experiences, the memories made, and the people he has had in his life throughout high school. “ I really appreciated every second that I had in everything that I did. I’m really glad that I took the time to recognize that I’m not going to be around all the people that I love and do all the things that I love anymore so I’m glad that I appreciate it while I still have it.”

Words from others:

Through his time spent in and outside of the classroom, Portie has grown close to many.

His favorite class throughout high school was AP Language and Composition, with English teacher and Yearbook Advisor, Christy Fisher.

For Fisher, she appreciates Portie as a student because he was always willing to take risks and not be afraid of embarrassment in her classroom.

When she thinks back to Portie’s time in her classroom, there are two memories that stand out to her. The first one being when she mistakenly called him by the name of “Branden Porter,” for the first semester of his junior year. This became a running joke in the class.

The other being during the months of production for “Something Rotten,” Fisher recalls Portie reciting lines in class for his character Nigel. 

She also laughs at memories of Portie doing backflips in her classroom.

“When he did it the first time [ I said], ‘Don’t you dare fall on your face because if you break your face in English class, like how am I going to explain that. That’s not a normal English injury.’ It just became kind of a thing that he would just do a backflip in front of the class,” she recalls.

“He has a personality that can take him pretty far because he’s really agreeable, he’s just charismatic, you know, people just actually like him, “ she says.

As for Gallup and Vanlandingham, they come to give Portie the advice of lighting up on himself and being confident in himself.

“He needs to stay positive and then just let who he is come out in everything that he does because if he does that he will be successful in everything he does. 

I’m pretty sure of that,” Gallup says.

For Valandignham, he wants Portie to know that “he is kind, funny, and loved by many; he has every reason to confidently be himself!”

Finally, Portie’s younger brother Collin wants him to know that “he has a lot of talents and can be successful in anything he would choose to do.”

Future:

As a kid, Portie spent a lot of his time drawing and coloring. 

When he grew up, he wanted to be a cartoonist to animate the shows he saw on television. Though he isn’t really artistic anymore and doesn’t plan on being a cartoonist post-high school,  Portie is looking to continue down the road of his passion for golf.

Right now, he is in talks with different colleges for golf. He plans on taking golf as far as he can career-wise, but knows that he “can’t play golf forever.”

Portie is currently undecided about a major in college.

Regardless of where his life may take him, the question for Portie’s future self is simple: “ Are you happy?”

At the end of the day, the impact Portie wants to have on the world is simple and humble: “As long as I make a little difference in anyone’s life, I feel like I would die happy, just impacting someone’s life or something’s life.  Or if I make the cure for cancer or just make someone’s day better by seeing them. I feel like I’d be happy with myself.”