Matthew Owens

My Marine Corps career ended with my final duty station being MCAS Miramar, so since my USMC career started in San Diego and ended at Miramar Air Station working on Jets and helicopters, it felt like proper closer and noble finishing this chapter of what is already a wild and exciting life at Miramar College. The choice seemed not only logical but obvious as well; just look at how beautiful the campus is! 
 

My overall success as result of the support, leadership, guidance; as well as, the lows and hardships have given me a better grasp on society at large. As a military Veteran the hardest and most lethal encounter many of us have faced was not in combat, it was coming home a completely changed person in the transition coming back and getting out. We in many ways -especially if you went in young and saw combat- are not of this world… and by that I mean our peers age wise are not our peers. This is coupled with family not understanding you but referring back to the person you used to be, not who you are now as a result of your experiences in the present. Life is change and to change is to live and not simply surviving to exist; Miramar College especially the law programs helped me find not just my passion but also my natural talent for law and politics again.
 

My favorite and more beloved is certainly the mock trials… it was like I passed the bar and was a practicing attorney! I loved it so much simpler because we immediately put what we read and learned in to practical application solidifying the knowledge; crucial for tactile / kinesthetic learners like myself. 
 

The only advice I can give to past, present and future Miramar peers of mine would be this: You can’t learn if you can’t change. A degree is meaningless if you have not gained a new perspective on life at the end of the day. To have more means to learn more and to learn more means to grown more; learn to live and live through growth.