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