San Diego Mesa College’s men’s soccer team (8-4-9) will travel to take on Oxnard College (11-2-8) in a playoff game on Saturday, Nov. 19.

Entering the playoffs for the second year in a row, the matchup is reminiscent of last year, where Mesa was defeated by Oxnard in the regional semifinals. This year, however, the team feels confident that they have what it takes to defeat the reigning state champions.

San Diego Mesa College’s third annual Thanksgiving Feast – organized by the Mesa College H.O.S.T. program and the Associated Students – will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 22 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in room MC 211 A/B.

Victoria Miller, Dean of Student Affairs, said that the faculty, staff and administrators at Mesa always want “students to feel valued and appreciated,” and that the Thanksgiving Feast is just one way that they help to accomplish this goal throughout the year.

Three days of fun activities will take place as part of the International Education Week at San Diego Mesa College on Nov. 15-17.

“International Education Week is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide,” said Spanish Professor Dora Schoenbrun-Fernandez. “This is also a prime opportunity for the International Education Committee at Mesa College to showcase the college’s and the Humanities Institute’s ‘global awareness’ learning outcome.”

After nine years in the U.S. Army, Karina Miranda returned to her hometown to attend San Diego Mesa College, which she said she chose in part because of aesthetic beauty as well as its treatment of veterans.

“There is so much support for the veteran community here – there’s just so much here for veterans to be involved with,” Miranda said. “They offer a lot of opportunities here, there are a lot of programs and it’s very flexible with the courses and hours.”

After being in the U.S. Army for just over four years, veteran Jordan Agricula – President of Mesa’s Student Veteran Organization – is now a student at San Diego Mesa College applying to transfer next fall.

Agricula – who has attended classes at Mesa for the past three years – was born in Hawaii, but grew up in California. After initially beginning college at Santa Rosa Junior College, Agricula dropped out of college and moved back to Hawaii, later joining the military to gain job experience.

Following in the footsteps of her father and cousins, San Diego Mesa College student Janet Langrehr joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1985, 29 years before stepping onto campus as a student.

After having first received a degree from ITT and a paralegal certificate from University of San Diego, Langrehr signed up for classes at Mesa two years ago to pursue a degree in accounting with minors in business and computer information systems. She plans on transferring to a four-year school once she has completed her time at Mesa.

Students, faculty and staff are invited to participate in the annual, Mesa Visions Art and Literary magazine contest by submitting works of fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry by Dec. 9.

Selectees will be notified during the spring 2017 semester and will be invited to a ceremony for the winners, where they will receive a free copy of the magazine. Prizes will also be awarded in the form of $100 for first place, $75 for second place, $50 for third place and $25 for honorable mention.

After four years of service in the United States Marine Corps, Bakersfield native Freddy Cervantes began to pursue his college degree at San Diego Mesa College in 2014.

Studying as an electrical engineering major, he currently holds a GPA of 3.86 and is the President of Mesa’s chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. In addition to PTK, he is a member of the Student Veterans Organization, Math Club, MATLAB Club and sits in with the Math Research Group. He tutors at Mesa in math up to linear algebra, Calculus III, German and Chemistry up to CHEM 200.