Transparency Item: The Perspectives section of the Graphic is comprised of articles based on opinion. This is the opinion and perspective of the writer.
As I begin my senior year, I cannot help but reflect on Pepperdine’s mission statement, which claims that, at this university, students are “strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership.” Specifically, I wonder, how well does this university actually strengthen us for lives of purpose?
This may sound needlessly philosophical, but what is Pepperdine? It seems fair to say that, beyond all the classes and offices and events, it’s a community of students, faculty and staff. If that is the case, when we expect to be strengthened for purpose at an institution like Pepperdine, the main thing that is meant to be doing the strengthening is likely the community which surrounds us.
But some of us have been and are currently struggling with community. You might not have a place—you might feel alone or without your people. My first year, I remember going on a walk with my Spiritual Life Advisor and asking him when I would find my people.
Finding one’s people at Pepperdine, it turns out, is not necessarily straightforward.
I spoke briefly with Professor of Psychology Khanh Bui, who researched loneliness on the college level. She said that, despite our small class sizes, loneliness is a substantial problem on Pepperdine’s campus.
Prior to Spring 2023, the loneliness rate at Pepperdine was higher than the national rate for undergraduates at 57%, Bui said. In the Spring of 2023, the rate dropped to the national average of 53%.
One of the studies on loneliness Bui contributed to hosted small groups that focused on how Pepperdine students talk about their loneliness. These small groups illuminated intergroup divides when it came to wealth, race, religion, Greek life, political affiliation and more. Some students’ loneliness, the study describes, was the result of feeling like they do not fit or belong with the majority of other students.
While loneliness in and of itself is a problem that, in my mind, signifies a lack of community, it can also lead to real mental health challenges on a personal level. Loneliness has been linked negatively to anxiety, trouble sleeping, depression, stress (both acute and chronic), alcoholism, and personality disorders.
I see the substantial amount of loneliness on Pepperdine’s campus as a threat to the University’s ability to fulfill its mission statement. If people feel like they don’t belong on campus, they may very well feel a sense of meaninglessness and purposelessness.
If Pepperdine is a community that strives to strengthen you for purpose and if you feel like you lack a place in that broader community, then there’s a problem. You cannot be strengthened by something you don’t have.
But just as Pepperdine as a community has these problems with connecting students, it also has answers.
I, for one, am a huge proponent of International Programs. In my experience, nothing unites people more than dropping them in a place where they’re all equally a foreigner. More so than in Malibu, you’ll find yourself befriending the most unlikely of people as you all try to figure out what is going on.
As a testament to that fact, I met my best friends in Heidelberg. There are people I traveled with who would have transferred if they had not gone abroad — now, I do not think it’s unfair to say they’ve “found their people.”
If you have the opportunity and the means, I wouldn’t miss out on going abroad.
But beyond abroad, if for any reason you are struggling with loneliness or finding your purpose, you definitely aren’t alone. Offices like the Counseling Center, RISE and the Student Care Team, and apps like TimelyCare which provides physical and mental health services, are available to any student.
When I recommend anything about mental health, I do not believe for a moment that one size fits all. But, if you are waiting for your people so they can strengthen you for purpose, I’d suggest firstly looking toward what you love.
Last year, when I went to the counseling center, the best thing my therapist did for me was advise me to read a book called “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. One of my favorite quotes from it is: “A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw his life away.”
Please pardon the gender-exclusive language, because I think the point he is making is universal. If you are struggling to find a community that strengthens you, maybe look toward a purpose you would love to have.
In my own life, I find that disciplined progress building toward the purpose I have for myself invigorates me, since it moves me toward where I eventually want to be.
In times of mental distress, it’s hard to think you’re not Sisyphus uselessly pushing a boulder up a mountain, only for it to roll down again. Instead, even if you are in the middle of a stormy moment of loneliness or sadness, remember that pushing up a boulder might actually be what’s taking you toward something better.
Unfortunately, there aren’t overnight solutions to fix the prevalence of loneliness at Pepperdine, just as finding a community isn’t an overnight process.
But as you wait for your community, know that you aren’t the only person feeling these things. And if you do what you love, you may find people who love doing the same thing — and maybe, if you go to places where you can talk about your struggles openly without shame, you’ll find people to connect with.
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Contact Eliot Cox via email: eliot.cox@pepperdine.edu
