He remembers holding the envelope from BSU, the envelope he believed held the key to his future. “I opened it, and it said ‘Congratulations.’ I’d been accepted into the program,” he recalled. “I was so excited. I knew I wanted to go to school but couldn’t afford it.”
Lorenz Marcellus, ’17, G’22, is chasing his dream of working in higher education. Another native of Haiti who grew up primarily in Brockton, he dealt with homelessness as a high school senior.
He was nominated to become a Bridgewater Scholar and ultimately became the first male student in the program. His sister Rubie, ’20, is also a Bridgewater Scholar and BSU graduate. He remembers holding the envelope from BSU, the envelope he believed held the key to his future. “I opened it, and it said ‘Congratulations.’ I’d been accepted into the program,” he recalled. “I was so excited. I knew I wanted to go to school but couldn’t afford it.”
Mr. Marcellus earned not one, but two degrees from BSU. During his undergraduate years, as a communication studies major, he took part in an internship in the nation’s capital through The Washington Center, which provides immersive internships and academic seminars to students from hundreds of colleges and universities and young professionals from across the United States and more than 25 countries. He also traveled to Morocco and Philadelphia, and volunteered at a school in Belize.
After earning his first degree, he served with City Year as a member of AmeriCorps, after which he returned to BSU to pursue a master’s degree in school counseling.
At first, Mr. Marcellus wanted to be a filmmaker, but participating in the annual student film competition, Campus Movie Fest, gave him a close-up look at the industry. It wasn’t as he’d imagined. And, it’s a longshot to make it in that business without some pre-existing connections. “I didn’t want to be a starving filmmaker,” he said.
Thinking about what else he enjoyed doing, Mr. Marcellus decided to pursue a career working with students. At BSU he’d served as a mentor for young students through a special program held in conjunction with the town of Randolph. “I found that working with students was something I had a passion for,” he said.
Ultimately, he found that he preferred working with college-aged students.
Today, he’s doing just that, as a part-time employee in BSU’s Office of Student Success and Equity Interventions. It’s a job that’s in keeping with his life’s mission. “So many others have helped me, and I want to pave the way for someone else,” he said.