In his speech to the entire student body of 174 students, shop Marcearrow Bruce of John Marshall High School wanted to ultimately inspire his classmates to “never give up and make an impact on the world.”

Always a leader, find Bruce was ranked first in his graduating class. Achieving the honor of valedictorian, he led the class with a 4.29 grade point average.

While in high school, Bruce participated in a range of different activities that display his sense of leadership. He was president of Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), treasurer of the National Honor Society (NHS), and vice president of Student Council Association (SCA). Along with participating in these organizations, he was a member of the soccer and tennis teams.

During his tenure at John Marshall, Bruce was heavily involved with Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp(JROTC). After his interest was peaked in the 9th grade, he took it upon himself to get involved with JROTC.

“In 9th grade I wasn’t put in (JROTC) but once I found out what they did I recommended it to the guidance counselor.” Bruce said. “They said, ’Yeah, we are going to put you in it.’”

Bruce says, when he first started it was fun but he had to learn a lot of new things. However, once he got it, it was easy.

While in JROTC, Bruce ascended to the rank of Captain and Security Officer. While in these positions he was responsible for around 60-90 cadets. While being a part of JROTC, Bruce was also a member of the Drill Team, Color Guard, Rifle Team and was commander of the Raider Team.

Bruce says he chose to climb the ranks in JROTC because he wanted to inspire the people who inspire him. “When I was in 9th grade, the security officer had my back and watched out, made sure I was doing things right. I wanted to be just like him, ” Bruce said. “So I climbed the ranks and inspired others.”

Inspiring and helping others is what Bruce plans to do throughout his life and career. In the fall, he will be attending West Virginia University Tech and majoring in computer engineering. While at WVU Tech, Bruce will also be a player on the men’s soccer team.

Bruce says he became interested in engineering after looking at the careers of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. He says both are the kind of inspiration for what he wants to do. It is something similar, but yet different.

Bruce has already proven to be a leader while at John Marshall. He is simply focused on his education and how it can better him and others.

“If you have smarts, you can really do anything in life if you put your mind to it,” Bruce said. “(High school) was just my first step to my career.”