Meet our Students

Meet Brett Webber

Native San Diegan Brett Webber has always had a passion for music. Brett plays the piano, keyboards, saxophone and drums, so it was no surprise that he came to MiraCosta College with the intention of graduating with a music degree.

In June of 2009, Brett began his first semester at MiraCosta College. “My first semester consisted of taking a lot of music classes and I was determined to get this degree (as I was completely confident that my musical melodies and ideas could shake the world, if only just a little bit). It went really well, and I was soon signing up for a few honors courses plus a couple music courses for the following spring semester,” says Brett.

After taking a few classes, Brett came to a realization: “What I really wanted was the capital-P public to pseudo-listen to my music, look at my music degree from – insert musically distinguished university – and just sort of shrug and say, ‘Yeah man… This guy is good.’ At this point, it was very clear and obvious that I needed to rid myself of this frightfully embarrassing hypocrisy and this is what happened: I swallowed my pride, and denounced music as my major.”

Shortly thereafter, Brett decided to major in agriculture and mathematics. Brett took three math classes with Professor Zika Perovic and was inspired to learn more about the subject. “I was so stoked on how smart and cool he was about math, and I was like, ‘Whoa I wanna do that’” says Brett. “I also decided to major in agriculture because I want to learn how to farm – I want to learn how to grow food. I have always been an independent person and I think my interest in agriculture is an extension of that.”

In the spring semester of 2012, Brett learned that he had won MiraCosta College’s highest academic award, the Medal of Honor. When he found out that he had won the award, Brett was very surprised: “My mind was like, ‘Coo.’ My mouth was like, ‘Wait really? Like that's it? I got it?’”

Transfer is the next step in his educational path, and the decision about where to go was an easy choice for Brett. “I applied to UC Davis, I got into UC Davis, and I am going to UC Davis,” says Brett. “My decision to go to UC Davis was because it is one of the top agriculture schools. It was between Davis and Cal Poly and I chose Davis because of their new sustainable agriculture and food systems major. If I'm going to learn how to farm, I should probably learn how to do it sustainably. Also the cool thing about the major is that it doesn't only deal with abstract knowledge... It's all about going into a field and gettin' those hands dirty.”

During his time at MiraCosta College, Brett has made life-changing decisions, including changing his major and future career focus. Brett has enjoyed his time at MiraCosta College, saying: “Most of my teachers have been real good. I’ve loved chatting it up with Professor Burman and Perovic. I also learned a lot… which is good. I figured out a lot of things, including myself, and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on life.”

The best advice Brett can give to current or prospective students? “Do your homework.”

As Brett embarks on a new chapter of his life, he plans on taking a break and relaxing before he attends UC Davis. “I intend to spend my summer reading literature and listening to jazz, going to Idaho and playing jazz, and doing yoga,” says Brett.