Meet our Students

Brennan Hefner

Brennan Hefner moved to San Diego to attend MiraCosta College and be in a new place with a new group of people. He is the first in his family to attend college. “I chose MiraCosta College because it is a great campus, close to the beach and one of the best community colleges in the nation,” Brennan says.

After starting out as a business major, Brennan switched to speech pathology. “I always wanted to help people in some way,” says Brennan, who chose that field because he had a speech impediment as a kid. 

“It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to figure out what you want to do, what’s important is that you’re furthering your education,” he says.

Brennan plans to transfer to San Diego State University in fall 2012, and ultimately get a master’s degree in speech pathology at UC San Diego. In between, he wants to join the Peace Corps and teach English to children in third world countries, an idea he got after volunteering at Madison Middle School in Vista, where he worked in the classroom helping students who were struggling with reading and writing.

“I love volunteering because I am able to make an impact on someone else’s life,” says Brennan.

Brennan recently returned from a trip to New Orleans where he volunteered with eight other MiraCosta College students and faculty members refurbishing a house that had been damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Besides taking a full load of classes, Brennan works part-time as a concierge in a senior health care facility in La Jolla and serves as student ambassador, mentoring high school and middle school students about college. “I advise high school students to tour the campus, enroll early, take the placement tests and get matriculation done as soon as possible.”

Brennan is on the MiraCosta College President’s List and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. He was recently awarded a MiraCosta College Foundation scholarship.