Help Spencer Fundraise for his Barcelona, Spain trip 2025!
Donation protected
My name is Spencer - I’m a 17-year-old Junior at Ballard High School in Seattle, Washington. I’m a community-focused volunteer who loves spending time outside with friends and family, and during the year, I compete for my school’s Swim and Tennis Teams. I have a lifetime dedication to our environment and sustainability - aspects that shape my daily life, from picking up litter to dumpster diving, hauling trash and teaching people to compost and recycle.
I am traveling to Barcelona, Spain this summer with CIEE International - a group that takes American students on once-in-a-lifetime voyages around the world for the purposes of study abroad and cultural exchange through experience. While I am in Barcelona this summer, I will be staying with a host family as an integral member of their life, as well as participating in a month-long Spanish immersion course to challenge my current proficiency in Spanish 4. I'll also have the chance to explore key sites in the regional Barcelona area, and jump in the Mediterranean Sea. I am looking forward to making new lifelong friends, speaking high-level Spanish daily, and seeing the beautiful nation of Spain!
So far in my life, I’ve moved all around the West Coast - from being born in San Francisco, to growing up in Salem, Oregon, moving back to the Bay Area and finally, residing in Seattle since New Year’s 2023. My family is originally from Oregon - we’re Oregon Trail pioneers dating back to 1854. I’ve always believed this history has positively influenced me as a person - having the pioneer blood gives me my self-guided initiative to make things happen, take risks, and be friendly to everyone I encounter.
My largest “making it happen” event of 2025 is my trip to Barcelona, Spain. This trip is truly aiming for the stars for my family and I - we proudly come from a lower-class American background and have, miraculously, weaseled our way around the West Coast to places our socioeconomic status don’t reside in great numbers - such as Stinson Beach, California and increasingly wealthy Seattle, Washington. At the moment, we earn enough money to afford rent and necessities - but that’s it. I’m grateful to have been awarded a near full scholarship for my Barcelona trip - but I need help covering the remaining $2000
In my highschool years, I’ve loved being an active volunteer with the Ballard Food Bank, YMCA of Greater Seattle, Trash Talk Project Washington, and Global Visionaries - whom I traveled to Guatemala with last summer. (Viva la vida!) With all these non-profits, I spend time on my weekends engaging with my community; gathering donated food, restoring trails, discussing recycling (my favorite!) and social justice, respectively. Truly by myself, I’ve been a lifelong boots-on-the-ground dumpster diver soul, always searching for things to be saved - which I donate/take to the Ballard Food Bank, Assistance League of Seattle, the Recology Store, or keep for my mom and I - another way we can afford to stay in urban Seattle! Every week I meet my Waste Management drivers as well, enthusiastically helping out with trash collection - my all-time beloved pastime. When I’m not doing any of the above, you’ll catch me walking outside everyday - smiling and breathing fresh air.
If you are able, I hope you consider donating to help me travel to Barcelona, Spain this summer. Enjoy the spring flowers! :)
~ Spencer Nuss, 17, Ballard High School, Seattle, WA
More About Me:
My Youtube Channels:
“Exposing Our Waste” - Focused on my efforts to combat neighborhood waste
“RecologySpencer” - Focused on my passion for documenting Garbage Trucks
My Instagram page, showcasing my dumpster dive finds in photographs:
(Inactive since 1/1/25 - I’m not using Instagram, at least for the while)
Self-Made video that awarded me my Summer 2023 (post-Freshman year) paid Internship with the Ballard Food Bank:
Organizer
Lisa Nuss
Organizer
Seattle, WA