Take a seat at the RISE Roundtable, a podcast from Pepperdine University’s Resilience-Informed Skills Education (RISE) Program, where we share and discuss what it means to build and live a life of resilience.

On this first episode, we hear the origin story of RISE from the program’s founders: Connie Horton, Vice President for Student Affairs, and La Shonda Coleman, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs. Three RISE student employees: senior Liza Esquibias, junior Emily Luong, and senior Kenneth Vargas also joined us, sharing what resilience means to them and how it shows up in their lives.

Here’s what we learned from our conversations:

• How the RISE Program began and its vision for a resilient Pepperdine community
• How to consider the six dimensions of RISE resilience in your life: physical, social, cognitive, service, life skills, spiritual
• How one intentionally and unintentionally develops and strengthens their resilience, or their capacity to move through challenges
• How sharing stories of resilience can foster compassion
• How strengthening relationships and being present play a role in one’s resilience 

In this episode, we discuss…

• 02:30 RISE’s origin and vision for the Pepperdine community
• 06:09 The six dimensions of resilience
• 10:54 Definitions of resilience
• 14:56 The power of storytelling
• 17:40 Connie and La Shonda’s advice to their younger selves
• 22:22 Resilience from a student point of view
• 24:29 Navigating adversities as a student
• 28:30 The importance of making connections, being present, and having balance
• 32:38 How to reach out to others
• 38:50 How to stay connected with us

Connect with us:

• Resilience@pepperdine.edu
• Instagram
• Website
• Recommend a guest