The guidance department has welcomed a new face to the office in Mr. Bryan. He is the 11^th and 12^th grade guidance counselor who attended Virginia Military Institute and has a background in psychology.

Mr. Bryan said he has liked working here a lot and has a history of coaching here and has experience working with Beacon Light. His favorite part is interacting with the kids. He enjoys helpings students go down the right path in life whether that’s college, the military, a gap year, etc.

Trying to follow in the footsteps of former guidance counselor Dr. Spaid has been the greatest challenge for him thus far, he said, what with dual enrollment courses, the SAT and AP tests, which were all new to him.

Mr. Bryan attended Philipsburg-Osceola High School. For undergrad he went to Virginia Military Institute and studied psychology. He took a couple of years off and worked in mental health and for his grad program he went for school counseling and focused on secondary school teaching.

Mr. Bryan explained he did not think he’d end up doing what he’s doing now when he was younger. Whenever he was a kid he wanted to be a pro baseball player, but found that baseball was not his path whenever he was in college. He then shifted his focus towards psychology as he fell in love with it. He wanted to become a psychiatrist and was going to go back to med school and changed his degree from bachelor of arts to bachelor of science. As he worked in that field he found out that wasn’t what he wanted to do. He shifted his focus towards working with kids instead of adults and found his path in school counseling, he said.

When he was in high school, Mr. Bryan explained he saw a movie called “Inception” and it kick-started his love for psychology. In his free time he enjoys walking his dog, going to music festivals, watching TV shows, listening to music or podcasts, and coaching baseball.

Mr. Bryan said he wants to help students feel as though they have someone to advocate for them, support them, and help  guide them down the right path, not only with your future but with their mental health. Being able to help at least one student a day helps him to stay motivated to make a difference in students lives, he said, adding that students keep him “young and on my toes.”

His wife, Mrs. Bryan, inspires him to become a better person and to impact the lives of others in a good way. In addition, his former boss out of college, Karen Fraser, inspired him by teaching him how to be a good person and employee. He explained that she helped to get him down the path of becoming a guidance counselor and working with people.

As for advice for students, Mr. Bryan believes that students should try to be themselves and not be afraid to be different. It is okay to be uncomfortable and to get out of your comfort zone in order to be yourself, he explained.