Author: Katlin Cilliers

Bryan Suechting is a 33-year-old from Folsom, Calif., and is currently working on completing the science courses needed to get into a science based-master's program. Suechting has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from UCLA, and due to not being able to market the degree well, was unable to find a career in the field. For the past two years Bryan has been working as a bartender at Yard House in Waikiki. During that time he learned how to brew beer and has won two first-place and second-place medals.  Bryan fell in love with Hawaiʻi after visiting his brother in 2017. The decision to move to Oʻahu was based on finding a location that would calm the symptoms of eczema, and where the brewery market was up and coming. "In the week and a half I was here, my eczema cleared up, it was the humidity. I wanted to open a brewery with my brother, but after a year I decided not to and go back to school," he said.  Suechting's advice for students is to make connections and get as much hands-on experience as possible. "I made the mistake of not making connections my first time through college," he said. "I just thought that If I got good grades and put that on a resume it would get me a job. That was not the case. Connections are key."