By the time Robert Zepeda returned to school, life had already taught him lessons that no classroom ever could.
He had spent years navigating adulthood head-on, balancing full-time work, personal loss and the pressures of supporting both himself and others while trying to figure out what kind of future he wanted to build.
Those experiences ultimately reshaped the way he viewed education, his purpose and what he believed he was capable of achieving.
“I saw the reality of what life is like without some type of education or career, and it’s terrible,” he said. “Living paycheck to paycheck is hard.”
Now, Zepeda has been accepted into MiraCosta College’s biomanufacturing program — becoming the first Pasifika student to do so.
The opportunity has given Zepeda a chance to pursue work that blends his growing passion for science with his desire to improve health outcomes in underserved communities.
But that sense of direction did not come overnight.
Zepeda first attended MiraCosta years earlier while playing on the MiraCosta Men's rugby team and becoming a 2018 national champion — but the COVID-19 pandemic upended both his school and personal life.
After stepping away from school and moving away for a period of time, Zepeda eventually returned to San Diego and struggled to find direction.
“I was working and just kind of getting into trouble,” he said.
A turning point came when Zepeda began working as a lab assistant in the research department at a diagnostics company.
Surrounded by chemists and hands-on laboratory work for the first time, he started to see science not just as an interest, but as a possible future.
It was there that Zepeda’s boss told him about MiraCosta’s biomanufacturing program, and his colleagues encouraged him to give it a try.
By then, his perspective on school had changed.
“As I got older and had to take care of other people in my life, I had to figure out how to take care of myself,” he said. “So I was like, ‘OK, if I can take care of a bunch of people, I could probably do some schoolwork.’”
Once he returned to MiraCosta, Zepeda quickly realized he was capable of more than he had once believed.
“The next thing I know, I was like, ‘Oh wow, this actually is not bad. I can actually do this,’” he recalled.
While working full time, Zepeda also attended school full time — something he once would have thought impossible.
“I just worked my butt off nonstop,” he said.
His commitment to pursuing biotechnology also earned him financial support along the way. Zepeda received a $2,000 Biotech Scholarship, providing another source of support as he continued his education and prepared to enter MiraCosta’s biomanufacturing program.
For Zepeda, the scholarship represents another milestone in a journey that once seemed unlikely — and another reminder of how far he has come since deciding to return to school.
Returning to school also forced Zepeda to navigate spaces where he often felt culturally out of place.
As someone who is both Hispanic and Samoan, Zepeda said he struggled at times with feeling isolated from people who understood his cultural background and experiences.
“It’s pretty hard, especially having mixed backgrounds,” he said. “There weren’t a lot of people around in my industry or where I was living at the time who were like me or understood me.”
At MiraCosta, programs like Mana and SALSA (Science and Lab Skills Advancement) helped him begin finding community and support while pursuing a STEM pathway.
Through SALSA, Zepeda was able to connect with other students interested in science while gaining hands-on lab experience.
“I got to be around more people who are interested in science, so it was nice,” he said.
Even so, Zepeda said pursuing a STEM career as a Pasifika student remains uncommon.
“For someone like me to go into a STEM field, it’s very, very rare,” he said. “I’m the only Pasifika student in my program.”
Still, he said that experience has motivated him to keep pushing forward.
“What I would tell other students is I’ve learned that really anyone can do it if you really put effort into it,” Zepeda said.
That encouragement and sense of belonging only deepened through the mentors and professors Zepeda found at MiraCosta, including Professor Jade Hidle, whom he affectionately calls “Auntie Jade,” rugby Coach Keli Ross-Ma'u and chemistry professor Rachel Small — all of whom helped him build confidence, stay motivated and continue believing in himself throughout his time at MiraCosta.
“Chemistry is one of those courses where it’ll bring you down, make you cry, bring the worst out of you,” Zepeda said. “But she had my back the whole way, and then she made me really, really start to enjoy it.”
For Zepeda, one of the biggest shifts was discovering that school was not only possible, but something he genuinely enjoyed.
“It was easy for me to give up on things back then,” he said. “But now it’s like, if it’s something I enjoy, why would I stop?”
That realization helped rebuild his confidence.
“I was like, ‘Hey, I’m actually pretty good at this,’” he said.
Now, Zepeda hopes to continue pursuing biotechnology and research, particularly in areas like stem cell research and food science that could directly improve health outcomes in underserved communities.
“Most of the people in my community tend to be diabetic or have gout and other health problems because food in my community is a problem,” he explained. “So I want to find ways to help people in my community and help make products better for people.”
Through his work, Zepeda hopes to one day help address health disparities and improve access to healthier, more affordable options for communities like his o