Bruce Lamond is a second-year Virginia College Advising Corps adviser at Mecklenburg County High School, which just opened in 2022. He served in the Marine Corps for several years before graduating from the University of Virginia in 2022. During his military service, Bruce became passionate about youth mentorship, prompting him to pursue a degree in Youth and Social Innovation and to step into several student support roles at UVA. “I learned about AmeriCorps and VCAC in my senior year of college when an assistant director of VCAC presented on the program in one of my classes,” recalls Bruce. “As soon as she started talking about the program, I knew it would be a good fit for me personally and professionally. When I was applying to college, I was very fortunate to have people in my life help me with the process and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pay it forward.”

Bruce has quickly gained the trust of students at MCHS and individually assisted over one-third of MCHS’s class of 2023 with a college application, resulting in the class submitting a total of 504 applications. One of his students reports that, “Mr. Lamond has made applying for college much easier and less stressful. Without him I wouldn’t even know where to begin. He’s been a lot of help to me.” In addition to his role as the school’s college adviser, Bruce coaches Mecklenburg’s soccer and basketball teams. In a recent evaluation, Bruce’s supervisor wrote, “Bruce has done a great job establishing the VCAC position here at MCHS. He does great at relationship building with students.”

“The opportunity to serve with VCAC has impacted my life in so many ways, but the relationships I have with my students is by far the most impactful,” says Bruce. “I came into this position knowing that I would like to work in higher education, but working with this population has opened me up to the possibility of continuing this line of work. Even being a small part of their personal journey to college and beyond is a true privilege.