Daniela Lopez and Samantha Rosser, RISE Marketing Student Employees, take a seat at the RISE Roundtable and reflect on a challenge they took upon themselves over the summer dedicated to enhancing their resilience skills: The RISE Up Challenge. This 75-day challenge encouraged students to set 6 goals for themselves based on the dimensions of resilience: social, physical, cognitive, life skills, service, and spiritual.

We also hear from three Pepperdine community members, who each share about a goal they have set to strengthen their resilience.

Connect with us:

• Email: Resilience@pepperdine.edu

• Instagram: @pepperdinerise

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@PepperdineRISE-fb2vz?si=qtjB7yWoqwsJhte9

• Website: www.pepperdine.edu/rise/

• Share Your Thoughts!: https://forms.gle/HztkVNgrW85bvvd1A

In this episode, we discuss the following:

• 1:28 Introducing Sam, Daniela, and the “RISE Up” Summer Challenge

• 3:04 Sam and Daniela’s SMART Goals based on the dimensions of resilience

• 6:13 Week 1 of the RISE Up Challenge, adjusting goals as needed

• 8:10 Working through unhelpful thoughts and other roadblocks

• 10:30 Their Life Skills goal: Limiting screen time

• 13:20 Reflecting on their physical dimension goal and how it changed their mindset

• 16:01 Reflecting on their cognitive dimension goal, increasing mindfulness

• 18:15 Reflecting on their social dimension goal

• 22:02 Tips for success

Myers Mentzer, Seaver College Class of 2025 student and Student Government Association President, joined RISE Podcast Producer Owen Mirka at the RISE Roundtable. Myers shares her resilience journey as a student leader.

We also hear from three Pepperdine community members, who each share a person in their life whom they look up to as a leader who exhibits profound resilience.

Connect with us:

• Email: Resilience@pepperdine.edu

• Instagram: @pepperdinerise

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@PepperdineRISE-fb2vz?si=qtjB7yWoqwsJhte9

• Website: www.pepperdine.edu/rise/

• Share Your Thoughts!: https://forms.gle/HztkVNgrW85bvvd1A

In this episode, we discuss the following:

• 0:00 Pepperdine community members share a leader they look up to

• 2:03 Introducing Myers Mentzer

• 7:03 What it means to Myers to be a leader—service

• 8:55 The importance of faith in Myers’s approach to leadership

• 11:09 Resilience in advocacy work

• 17:20 The life skills dimension of resilience, an approach to technology

• 19:44 Growing in the social dimension at International Programs

• 27:40 How faith plays a role in Myers’s life

• 30:33 Navigating grief as a peer and as a leader

Dr. Terra Hall, Associate Dean of Student Affairs at Pepperdine, joined RISE Podcast Producer Bo Jaden James at the RISE Roundtable. Dr. Hall shares her inspiring faith-driven journey of resilience and her work in cultivating community for all students.

Connect with us:

• Email: Resilience@pepperdine.edu

• Instagram: @pepperdinerise

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@PepperdineRISE-fb2vz?si=qtjB7yWoqwsJhte9

• Website: www.pepperdine.edu/rise/

• Share Your Thoughts!: https://forms.gle/HztkVNgrW85bvvd1A

In this episode, we discuss the following:

• 0:33 Pepperdine community members share how they have found a sense of belonging

• 4:50 Dr. Hall’s role and impact at Pepperdine University

• 8:35 Dr. Hall’s journey to Pepperdine

• 9:45 How Dr. Hall got into the work of community belonging

• 12:14 Dr. Hall defines resilience as a commitment and a recognition of the resilience of others

• 16:20 How Dr. Hall leans on faith and scripture to navigate challenging and difficult situations in her life

• 20:20 Dr. Hall’s spiritual dimension of resilience practice of early prayer and meditation

• 23:42 The significance of a spiritual community for resilience

• 24:49 Intentional resilience habits that Dr. Hall is practicing

• 29:17 The power of cultivating community amid changing circumstances

• 32:40 Students who showed Dr. Hall what resilience can look like

• 37:15 Dr. Hall’s message for students

• 40:09 Confronting imposter syndrome and increasing belonging

Pepperdine alumni Kenneth Vargas, RISE Podcast Producer, and Emily Shaw, RISE Program Specialist, sit around the RISE Roundtable to reflect on their resilience journeys at Pepperdine and post-grade and share some tips and insights they learned along the way.

We also hear from three more Pepperdine alumni, who each share what has supported their resilience throughout their college career and postgraduate experience: R.J. Wicks, Allie McMullen, and Devin Cooke.

Links:

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PepperdineRISE-fb2vz
• Website: www.pepperdine.edu/rise/
• Instagram: @pepperdinerise
• Recommend a guest: https://forms.gle/HztkVNgrW85bvvd1A

In this episode, we discuss the following:

• 5:46 Kenny shares how he optimized his limited time as a student at Pepperdine
• 9:42 Emily talks about how she thought about the time management building block of the life skills dimension while she was a student
• 11:12 Having a growth mindset and learning mentality when taking on new opportunities as students
• 12:17 Trying to operate from a mindset of gratitude rather than perfectionism
• 14:43 Reflecting on our relationships with our parents and loved ones
• 20:49 Being curious about and having empathy toward our parents and people we've known for a long time
• 23:06 Research that shows just how important relationships are for one's well-being and resilience
• 27:30 Prioritizing our physical resilience and why that's important
• 28:45 How to overcome mood changes when it comes to taking care of our physical resilience
• 30:56 The importance of time management as a life skill
• 33:49 Embracing creativity and nature as a resilience practice
• 39:12 Pepperdine's motto "Freely ye received, freely give"

Nicole Fashaw, rising senior, joins RISE Podcast Producer Bo Jaden James at the RISE Roundtable. The two discuss the power of music and songwriting to strengthen one's resilience, and Nicole does a special performance of an original song.

We also hear from three Pepperdine community members, who each share a song that reminds them about resilience: Seaver alumni (Class of 2024) Alyssa Medina, Lidia Qaladh, and Madilyn Henshaw.

Links:

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PepperdineRISE-fb2vz
• Website: www.pepperdine.edu/rise/
• Instagram: @pepperdinerise
• Recommend a guest: https://forms.gle/HztkVNgrW85bvvd1A

In this episode, we discuss the following:

• 0:30 Nicole Fashaw and all her commitments and leadership positions
• 2:48 Being a part of the RISE Interest Community
• 4:46 Managing different leadership roles and commitments
• 7:15 What gets Nicole out of bed
• 8:44 Music as a positive coping mechanism
• 11:02 The first song Nicole has ever written
• 12:58 Music-making and resilience
• 15:21 Navigating imposter syndrome and feelings of not being enough
• 18:22 Nicole’s relationship with God
• 23:39 The spiritual dimension of resilience
• 24:21 Nicole provides context for her song “Finally Seen”
• 25:32 Nicole performs her song “Finally Seen”

Dr. Jaz Gray, Professor of Communication Studies, joins RISE Program Specialist Emily Shaw at the RISE Roundtable. The two discuss the power of narrative storytelling in strengthening one’s resilience.

We also hear from three Pepperdine community members, who each share a story that has impacted their perspective on resilience: Hope Dease, Assistant Director of Connection; Young Yang, Seaver student; and Tehillah Mwenya, Seaver student.

Connect with us:

• Email: Resilience@pepperdine.edu
• Instagram: @pepperdinerise
• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@PepperdineRISE-fb2vz?si=qtjB7yWoqwsJhte9
• Website: www.pepperdine.edu/rise/
• Recommend a guest!: https://forms.gle/HztkVNgrW85bvvd1A

In this episode, we discuss the following:

• 0:00 Pepperdine community members share a story that has impacted their perspective on resilience
• 4:23 What a narrative researcher investigates
• 6:09 The various mediums of narrative that supported the different seasons of Dr. Gray’s life
• 10:38 The ways in which films can be a place of escape but also a place of empowerment
• 15:35 What happens when there’s no “fairytale ending” or no “ending” at all
• 19:56 Re-negotiating the “ending” and what the “problem” is to begin with
• 24:18 The power of radical honesty in the journey to self-acceptance
• 26:41 Stories you can only experience and not tell; honoring the chaos of a story
• 30:10 Building empathy when storytelling and listening to stories
• 32:35 How marginalized communities and identities can utilize narrative storytelling to build resilience, find community, and challenge systems
• 43:14 The connections between the dimensions of resilience and narrative storytelling
• 52:55 Life plotting as a tool for resilience building and humanizing oneself
• 59:28 When to share and when to not force yourself to share your story
• 1:04:48 Bouncing back and pushing forward

In this episode, Isaac Bonilla, a rising senior, joins RISE Student Lead Ethan Barragán at the RISE Roundtable, sharing his resilience journey to Pepperdine and how he practices resilience skills to support all of his various academic and co-curricular commitments.

We also hear from three Pepperdine undergraduate students, who each share risks they’ve taken and the outcome of those decisions: Julie Joy Oliveira, Andrew O’Brien, and Adrielle Lanae Zindler.

Connect with us:

• Email: Resilience@pepperdine.edu
• Instagram: @pepperdinerise
• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@PepperdineRISE-fb2vz?si=qtjB7yWoqwsJhte9
• Website: www.pepperdine.edu/rise/
• Recommend a guest!: https://forms.gle/HztkVNgrW85bvvd1A

In this episode, we discuss the following:

• 0:00 Undergraduate students share what risks they’ve taken and the outcome of those decisions
• 5:08 Isaac takes a risk while applying Pepperdine
• 9:52 Isaac’s Pepperdine Posse strengthens his social resilience
• 11:00 How Isaac manages the many hats he wears at Pepperdine
• 12:10 The power of journaling, “gyming” and leaning on your social support during tough times
• 13:45 Isaac’s one word to describe his journey at Pepperdine: Patience
• 19:00 The toll of imposter syndrome and how Isaac works through it
• 20:50 “Anything is truly possible if you put your mind to it,” AND “Sometimes a door that closes is another door that opens”
• 22:30 How to have a full rest day
• 24:10 Finding rest in community
• 26:00 Isaac de Jesus Bonilla finding his faith journey
• 29:05 A tour guide’s words of wisdom to prospective students

In this episode, Paul Kim, Professor of Screen Arts, joins RISE Podcast Producer Kenneth Vargas at the RISE Roundtable. Paul shares his resilience journey as a member of his family, professor, and filmmaker.

We also hear from three Pepperdine faculty, who each share how they find a sense of deep enjoyment in life: Martin Premoli, Assistant Professor English; Dr. Karie Riddle, Assistant Professor of Political Science; and Kelsey Brereton, Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry.

Connect with us:

• Email: Resilience@pepperdine.edu
• Instagram: @pepperdinerise
• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@PepperdineRISE-fb2vz?si=qtjB7yWoqwsJhte9
• Website: www.pepperdine.edu/rise/
• Recommend a guest!: https://forms.gle/HztkVNgrW85bvvd1A

In this episode:

0:00 Pepperdine faculty members share what allows them to find a sense of deep enjoyment in life

5:00 Paul shares his background and his journey to discovering his passion for the arts

11:30 How to find a sense of fulfillment from enjoying the process and the experience of making work

17:11 Paul describes his resilience journey as “trial and error”

19:10 Paul shares a recent difficult challenge he’s encountered within his family

22:45 Paul discusses how a difficult experience led to the development of a new perspective on his family and his heritage

29:56 How exercise and cycling has supported Paul in his capacity to be “better prepared” in moving through challenges and in practicing mindfulness

35:20 How Paul support students in honing their craft by creating an environment for them to enter a mind state of “flow” or “optimal experience” and mindfulness

44:49 How to take in feedback and criticism from others on our work or art

47:05 How to combat irrational thoughts such as filtering, perfectionism, catastrophizing, and equating our value with our work performance

56:25 “The other side” of irrational thinking — how we can transform our “weaknesses” into “strengths”

58:44 Remembering to lean on and reach out to your community, the people you trust and who love and care for you

1:06:30 How to stay connected with RISE