Most people who know Bryce Fortune, or “Chocolate Biggums” as many call him, wouldn’t imagine he used to be a shy kid called “Fortune Cookie”.

Calling North Penn a “breath of fresh air”, Fortune formerly attended private schools in Philadelphia.

“I actually moved here in the 8th grade and went to Penndale,” he says.  “It was definitely like a leap of societal experience, coming from a private school to a public school, which to add on top of this, a Penndale, it was huge… As soon as I walked into the building, I’m like ‘this got to be a high school’… and she was like ‘oh no, this is the middle school’. It was definitely new, all new, to me. But I’m glad I got comfortable with it. Definitely.”

Fortune has made North Penn a home for himself as a member of the football, wrestling, and Unified Track teams.  Surprisingly, he had no prior experience, and decided to try them out in ninth grade.  

“9th grade was my first time doing both. I did football because I knew watching TV, I loved it… there’s no other feeling like getting past the offensive linemen and getting a snag for your team, there’s no better feeling than that… My first year, I looked at wrestling as a sport to keep me in shape, because I knew I didn’t like sitting around on a couch after football season, so I said you know what, I’ll try wrestling. I’m not gonna lie, it was tough my first year… but it didn’t take much time for me to fall in love with it.  So now I just do both.”

However, as Fortune was just getting into the swing of sports some misfortune befell him; he tore his ACL and meniscus in pre-season football.

“It was definitely a shock to my body.  It definitely hurt me just because I was doing good in practice… I was just about to be starting.  And it’s been tough, trying to support my teammates and being there for them when I know I should be out there with them.  But I’m fighting… It’s definitely a struggle watching all my friends and teammates play when I know I could be out there with them, definitely took probably the joy out of my life.”

Fortune still tries to look on the bright side, saying “It ain’t all bad… they gave me a study hall so I’ve been getting more time for my school work.”

To help him through this time, he’s been writing.

“After I tore my ACL, I used that book as one of my ways to cope, and probably make better use of my time by writing… about my experiences here, and just writing about life in general as well. I’m thinking about making a book of it. I don’t really know, maybe I just want to be one of those people that just keeps a diary for no reason. For now, that journal is probably just one of the ways I try to cope with this injury.”

He’s not losing hope.  He proudly proclaims that “It’s going to be the Fortune era next year”.

He says he’s definitely going to return to sports.

“I didn’t get this surgery for nothing, so I’m definitely going back, can’t tell me anything.  Not even about football, not even about wrestling, you just can’t tell me nothing — I’m going back.”

With his dream job as an NFL player, Fortune is also planning on doing sports in college. 

“I believe ever since I’ve been doing sports I do it for the love for it.  I like to put 100% effort and my time into it, and it’s just something to do, rather than, you know, sitting in the house all day looking like a couch potato.  It definitely kept my mind off of stuff, and off of life, it was definitely almost like a retreat for me, therapy.”

However, Fortune is still focused on the academic side of things.  He’s planning on majoring in accounting, athletic training and sports medicine, and probably a minor concentration in business.

One of his top choices is Bloomsburg.  Fortune says he wants to stay in state, or at least close to family.  Family is one of the most important things to him.

“Family — as long as you got family, you’ve got everything.”

His family name is something he hopes describes him.

“Everybody I tell my last name to, they just look at me like ‘is that actually your last name’? And I’m like ‘yes, that’s my last name’.  I was mostly known as “Fortune Cookie” back at my elementary school… I like to hope that it means I have good luck in the future, because you know, fortune favors the bold.”

While he doesn’t consider himself bold, he describes himself as nonchalant, hilarious, fun, outgoing, and loyal.

He wasn’t always this way though.

“I honestly can’t stop being surprised… When I initially moved over here to the North Penn School District, I didn’t think I was going to make as many friends as I did, because I was shy.  I was basically shy in elementary and middle school, so I didn’t have that many friends, so I came here and got to be friends with people.”

Fortune was welcomed at Penndale by many nicknames. 

“I do remember wearing an all white fit, all white: white button up shirt, white pristine white pants, and pristine white shoes, and going to penndale.  It was 9th grade, I specifically remember it, and people would call me Reverend, Pope, and I was like ‘oh yeah, I got to wear more good stuff like this’.

One in particular has stuck to this day.

“I managed to get a nickname in Penndale, so much so that I was asked a question, what would my name be if I was a rapper, and I said ‘Chocolate Biggums’. And that stuck to me, even from now, junior year, that name has still stuck with me.  That’s how I’m known mostly by my many friends as Chocolate Biggums.  There is not a day that goes by every time I go in this school I’m not greeted as Chocolate Biggums. Sometimes I think they actually forgot my name.”

Besides nicknames, memories have stuck with Fortune as well.

“My most memorable part was winning my match on Senior Night in wrestling last year. That definitely not only boosted my confidence in wrestling, but I felt like I was on Cloud Nine when I won that match.  Never heard the crowd cheer so loudly — it was like a hundred times loud. It was just overwhelming. Definitely got the win there for my seniors graduating that year. Hope they saw a good show.  When I’m a senior here I need them to be loud.”

Fortune is looking towards his senior year with optimism, even though he doesn’t know what it will hold.

“In the future, I’m definitely excited to see if I still actually have my skills in football and wrestling. Because I didn’t realize how long a year is, or recovery, or therapy, until now.  I’m definitely looking at it, I might not be as good at what I do anymore. So I’m definitely excited to see where I’m at five or ten years into the future.”

Fortune is far from who he pictured himself as a child.  North Penn provided him with many challenges and opportunities.  For example, last year he took an audio engineering course, to explore more about producing music.

“I did beats as a hobby, like I would just put together a bunch of premade beats, and I would end up getting some sort of a masterpiece and that would sound really good. But making my own, as far as that goes, it took a lot of work… Probably not the way I want to go, but definitely a hobby.”

His teachers have left a lasting impression on him as well.

“Lets face it, teenagers in our generation, they don’t feed into teachers that try to interact with them.  [Mr. Snyder] was definitely one of those teachers that didn’t give up and just worked at it, worked at it until finally we broke and our whole class was comfortable with him… I still to this day visit him.”

“I never had him, but Mr. Manero, I’ve only had a handful of conversations with him, and I can already tell he’s probably one of the best teachers in this school.  He just carries a good positive vibe around with him, he’s charismatic, he’s vibrant; it’s hard to hate that guy. You just can’t hate that guy, he’s just him.”

While his time at North Penn has had its ups and downs, Fortune continues to uplift those around him, and make the best of his situation.

Simply put, he says “Sometimes it’s good to embellish the present before you look into the future”.