De Anza Vet Accepted at Stanford
Jharell Bruce has already gone halfway around the world in pursuit of his goals. Now the 27-year-old De Anza student is headed to Stanford University, where he’ll study electrical engineering this fall.
Jharell enrolled at De Anza in 2022 after six years in the U.S. Navy – including a
yearlong deployment on a nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, during the COVID pandemic. During that time, he sailed from the Pacific coast to the Persian Gulf.
Returning to civilian life and college wasn’t always easy, but Jharell said he got plenty of support from De Anza counselor Lan Truong and fellow students he met at the college's Veteran Services office.
Truong offered advice on choosing classes, introduced him to university contacts and coached him on his essays, Jharell said. “She was very direct,” he recalled with a laugh. “She’d say, ‘You need to rewrite this!’”
Jharell was drawn to engineering as a high school student in Union City, but his family struggled financially and he couldn’t see a way to pay for college. So he joined the Navy and entered an intensive, two-year nuclear training program. That led him to the Nimitz, where he was an electrical maintenance supervisor for the carrier’s nuclear power system.
COVID quarantine forced the carrier to remain at sea, with no shore leave, for twice the length of typical deployments. In his free time on board, Jharell taught classes in jiu jitsu, which he’d learned at a cousin’s martial arts studio, and taught himself to cut shipmates’ hair by watching YouTube videos.
When his military service ended, Jharell applied to several universities but wasn’t accepted. So he enrolled at De Anza, following the advice of a mentor from a nonprofit that advises veterans on getting into college. Two years later, he was admitted to Stanford as a transfer student, starting in fall 2024.
After completing his bachelor’s degree, Jharell wants to pursue a master’s degree in engineering and an MBA, to boost his career prospects.
“From our first meeting, Jharell has been relentless in his pursuit of completing courses at the highest caliber, in order to be a competitive engineering candidate,” Truong said. She added that his focus and determination are “top notch.”