Alan Llavore | Office of Marketing and Communications | (909) 537-5007 | allavore@csusb.edu
When Marlena Brown walks across the stage to receive her bachelor’s degree in communication studies at this fall’s commencement, she won’t just be celebrating a personal milestone — she’ll be celebrating the path she’s paving for her son, her siblings, her nieces and nephews, and the many others who look to her as a role model.
“I’m doing this for all of us,” Brown said, her signature warmth and candor lighting up every word. “My journey back to college changed my life — and my family’s.”
A proud mother of an eight-year-old son and a middle child in a close-knit family of seven siblings, Brown is the first in her family to attend college. Her parents, both deeply supportive, always emphasized the value of education even if they weren’t quite sure how to navigate the system. “They showed up for me in every way they could,” she said. “They just didn’t know what I needed — and honestly, back then, I didn’t either.”
Brown first enrolled at Cal State San Bernardino after graduating high school in 2007 but found that the timing wasn’t right. “I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted,” she said. “So I stepped away from school for a while and focused on work.”
Everything shifted when her son was born. “I wanted to be a positive example for him — to show him that life is what you make it,” she said. “I knew I had more in me, and I wanted to prove it.”
In 2019, Brown was hired at CSUSB to support a grant in the communication studies department. That position, and the mentorship of Brian Heisterkamp, now interim faculty director of the Office of Community Engaged Learning, introduced her to campus resources and reignited her belief in what was possible. “I realized: if I have access to all of this, I can succeed.”
And succeed she has. Since re-enrolling in fall 2023, Brown has raised her GPA significantly and is now earning straight A’s — with a 3.9 GPA in her major.
She also works full-time as an administrative support coordinator in CSUSB’s Academic Scheduling and Curriculum department, all while raising her son and running a mentoring initiative she calls Mentoring with Marley.
What began as a way to support her nieces and nephews has grown into a personal mission. “I help them practice self-advocacy, talk to teachers, find scholarships — all the stuff I wish someone had done for me,” she said. Now, she’s expanding her mentorship to high school students in the community. “We meet at their pace. Zoom, text, phone calls — whatever helps them feel supported.”
Her niece, now a CSUSB pre-nursing major, was among the first to benefit from Brown’s guidance. “She even wrote me a letter at her high school graduation party,” Brown recalled. “I cried like a baby. I didn’t realize how much it meant to her.”
One of her current mentees, a high school junior, has been especially inspiring to watch. Together, they set a goal of reaching a 3.0 GPA by the end of the school year, checking in regularly on grades and study strategies. When the student’s chemistry and Algebra 2 grades climbed from low C’s to a 90 percent and an 82 percent, respectively, Brown celebrated the achievement — and the self-advocacy behind it. The student now regularly meets with teachers, asks for help and believes she can reach, and even exceed, her goal. “She’s growing and blossoming,” Brown said. “It’s just really beautiful to see. I love mentoring.”
In addition to mentoring and coursework, Brown has discovered a passion for writing — authoring two thoughtful feature articles during a course she took on news writing. One, published in Inland Empire Community News, highlights how artists of color are reclaiming their space and shaping culture through creative expression. The other, a blog post titled “Finding Stillness in Sound: How Cam Gnarly Helped Me Catch My Breath” for Beyond the Bassline, is a personal reflection on the healing power of music rooted in the Inland Empire. Through both, Brown combines storytelling, empathy and cultural awareness — hallmarks of a powerful communicator.
Brown has also made a mark as a scholar. She presented the early stages of her research at the Meeting of the Minds Student Research Symposium on April 10, supported by faculty mentors Deborah Perez-Torres and Joanna Grant. Her topic explores how Black men use media to cope with relational stress — a subject that reflects her passion for relational communication and storytelling.
“Just talking about my research at the symposium helped me get clear on my direction,” she said. “It was one of the best experiences I’ve had — and it made me realize I want to do more.”
Now, as she counts down the days to commencement, Brown is already looking ahead. She has applied to CSUSB’s Master of Arts in Communication Studies program for the spring term and is eagerly awaiting a decision. “I’ve had the privilege to get to know some of the professors that are teaching in the graduate program, and I’ve been able to foster relationships with them,” she said. Those relationships — and the support she’s found in the department — helped make her choice clear. “This is actually the only program I applied to. I wasn’t interested in any others because I feel like I really belong here.”
After her master’s degree, she plans to eventually earn a Ph.D., with the goal of becoming a professor and continuing her work in mentorship and research. “I didn’t know what I was capable of until someone challenged me,” she said. “Now, I want to be that person for others.”
Her CSUSB colleagues — including Maria Muñoz and Patrick Bungard — have also cheered her on along the way. Faculty have encouraged her to keep sharing her work and even consider roles that would let her support other students in developing their public speaking skills. The encouragement has reinforced her desire to continue on to graduate school, with the long-term goal of becoming a professor and expanding her mentorship and research.
Her son remains at the heart of everything she does. At home, the two often sit side by side doing homework — he with his books, she with her readings and papers. Watching his mother push toward graduation has already shaped how he sees his own future. “He’s already talking about college, and he’s only 8 years old,” Brown said, smiling.
Even her son’s early excitement can’t quite match the quiet pride she feels when she pauses to reflect on how far she has come. “I’m really proud of myself, not in, like, an arrogant way, but I didn’t think that I could be here …” she said. She doesn’t need to say more; her expression says the rest.
It’s a feeling that captures exactly why she’s doing all this. “He’s watching me, and so are my nieces and nephews, my siblings, my classmates,” she said. “I just want to make them proud — by showing up and doing the work.”