Stanford-bound senior says St. John’s helped him feel at home and overcome challenges
When Rahsaan Bernard Jr. attends Stanford University this fall, it won’t be the first time that he wears Cardinal red.
His mother DeLise Bernard went to Stanford, and “she always hyped it up my whole life,” he said, adding, “I have baby photos of me in Stanford gear.”
At Stanford, the salutatorian of the class of 2026 at St. John’s College High School in Washington plans to major in Management Science and Engineering, which focuses on the intersection of engineering, business and public policy.
While he is unsure what career he might pursue, “I definitely want to do something that gives back to the community,” he said, noting that his father, Rahsaan Bernard Sr. earlier served as the president of a nonprofit, Building Bridges Across the River, that provides access to health care, the arts and economic opportunity to people in Southeast Washington.
Rahsaan Bernard Jr., an 18-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., attends Anacostia River Church with his family. He has two younger sisters, Rielle, a rising junior at St. John’s, and RaeLynn, who will be a freshman at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington.