Pierson Cepeda, a Mass Media major, and the Assistant Web & Social Media Manager for The Cougar Chronicle, is a San Marcos native who immediately enrolled into CSUSM straight out of high school.

“One of the benefits to attending CSUSM is that I always get to be close to my family at home,” he said.

In the four years that Cepeda’s been at CSUSM, he’s changed his major three times. Originally, he was a Marine Biology major—it wasn’t for him, so he switched over to Mass Media, then he tried out Accounting for a bit—but that Mass-Media-itch was still there, and it wasn’t long before he went back to scratching his true love.

Cepeda’s favorite class at CSUSM is COMM 300: Communication Theory, which is taught by Dr. Michael Huspek, who specializes in normative communication. Cepeda enjoys theory, especially the semiotic, phenomenological, cybernetic, socio-psychological, sociocultural and critical tradition frameworks of the 20th  century. These help him understand communication and its influences in social, political and cultural practice.

His favorite professor at CSUSM is Dr. Kendra Rivera, an applied organizational communication scholar that focuses on communication of identities, emotion and wellness in organizational settings. Her classes at CSUSM are always packed.

Cepeda can be found hanging at CSUSM in the practice rooms of the Arts Building. “It’s my favorite place,” Cepeda said. When Cepeda’s fingertips feel the magic, he goes and plays on the pianos there.

Cepeda’s also has a favorite floor at the CSUSM library : the second floor. “The computer lab down there just feels more comfortable for some reason,” he said.

When asked if there were any buildings he’s never visited, Cepeda replied, “I’m pretty sure I’ve been in every single building,” he paused for a brief moment, “at least once.” he added.

When Cepeda is feeling really thirsty, or he’s needing a caffeine fix—he, like many of the caffeine junkies here at CSUSM, seeks out The Coffee Cart.

“The hipster in me tells me to avoid Starbucks,” Cepeda said as he sipped his organic-cold-brewed-decaf iced coffee. Cepeda let out a deep sigh of satisfaction.

There has been a rumor going around lately that Cepeda is “wild”. When asked what the wildest thing he’s ever done on campus was, Cepeda replied mysteriously and nonchalantly, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to say…”
Cepeda looks forward to his time after graduation, because he’ll finally be able to start a blog and freelance as a writer. He has a passion for writing. “I also plan to continue working at the office I am at. Maybe pick up another job after I graduate,” he said, “but I’m going to continue writing—I learned at CSUSM that I really love to write.”