Students come to Pepperdine for a variety of reasons — the tight-knit community, the Christian presence on campus or the beautiful views, they said. Yet, upon arriving here, finding belonging within that community is an entirely different story.
Sophomore transfer student Michelle Chan did not have the perfect, sparkling first year of college that first-year students expect.
As a first-year at the University of Hawai’i, Chan said she struggled to find true belonging in a community filled with thousands of students. Despite the natural beauty of Hawai’i, she said the combination of the school’s large size and the values of those around her — especially in the aspect of Christianity — weren’t the right fit for her.
“I grew up Christian, so I had those values in me and wanted to still carry that in college,” Chan said. “But, it was hard, especially in a public school and with friends who didn’t value the same things as me.”
Like Chan, other Pepperdine students have experienced similar feelings of isolation and loneliness.
First-year Bardaliss Sanchez-Jimenez described her life growing up as a “roller coaster.” After being born in New York, her family moved back and forth between New York and the Dominican Republic — where her parents are from — which made her feel different from other kids her age.
“I always had imposter syndrome,” Sanchez-Jimenez said. “It was hard for me to really pinpoint what home was to me.”
Chan’s experience upon coming to Pepperdine is unlike many others’, as she is a sophomore transfer student — arriving in Malibu during the year most students depart to other countries for study abroad programs.
During New Student Orientation, Chan said she found herself confused at times, splitting her time between being with first-years and older transfer students but rarely ever with other students her age.
“Obviously, we all have that experience of trying to find belonging,” Chan said. “But personally, it’s been weird trying to distinguish myself between a first-year and a second-year and trying to explain that to someone is sometimes really confusing.”
Sanchez-Jimenez said middle school in New York was the most difficult period of her life, partly because the rest of her family was in the Dominican Republic. Back then, she said her English wasn’t as good as it is now, and as a result, she experienced a lot of bullying.
Yet, Sanchez-Jimenez said the challenge of a language barrier was not bound by location. Sanchez-Jimenez said she not only experienced difficulty with language while in New York, but she would also be called names when she spoke Spanish in the Dominican Republic — names that implied she didn’t belong there either.
Some students undergo these challenges in the opposite order from Sanchez-Jimenez, though. With a majority of sophomore students going abroad, these obstacles to find belonging can extend beyond the Malibu campus.
Junior Olivia Marcil said she transitioned into her time at Pepperdine seamlessly. She quickly became close with her suitemates and roommate, which resulted in an immediate sense of community and belonging.
But, it would only take a year before her world was flipped upside down.
Marcil departed the United States in the fall of 2022 for her sophomore year abroad in Heidelberg, Germany. She originally planned to stay in Germany only for the fall semester, but after how much she loved her experience in the fall, she decided to remain in the program for the spring semester.
“The fall semester was great; I have no complaints about it,” Marcil said. “We were seeing new places, and it was a novel experience — it was a butterfly phase.”
But, little did Marcil know, this “butterfly phase” would come to an end quickly.
At the start of the spring semester, Marcil said only about half of the program from the fall returned, and the other half was a fresh batch of students. It was at this point that her butterflies began to fly away, and her mental health took a turn for the worse, she said.
“I was going through a lot emotionally and had gone through something really difficult over Christmas break,” Marcil said. “Then coming back and being in the house — I don’t know what could have caused it — but there were so many times where I felt just out of my body.”
Marcil said a difficult aspect of going abroad with such a large group is that everyone has different expectations. This was a huge challenge in figuring out who her true friends were, Marcil said.
“I didn’t really feel a sense of belonging, and I think it was just because everyone’s expectations were so different,” Marcil said. “I just felt really alone and isolated through a lot of it.”
Finding Larger Community
Despite facing various difficulties, Chan, Marcil and Sanchez-Jimenez all agreed Pepperdine lives up to the expectation of having a small and welcoming community for everyone, they said.
The biggest factor in Chan’s decision to transfer to Pepperdine — which she decided early on in her first year at Hawai’i — was what she heard about the tight-knit community here. A friend of hers who graduated from Pepperdine in 2023, told her that, once you find your group of people here, they are your people for life.
“That’s been so true coming here and having discovered that for myself,” Chan said. “People here are just so genuine and very open — very welcoming wherever you go.”
In the same way, despite facing difficulties with some of her friends throughout her mental health journey, Marcil said her experiences have opened her eyes to who she feels she truly belongs with.
“When you go through something difficult, it either brings you closer to people or it causes you to change and find new friendships,” Marcil said. “In this case, it did cause me to change and find new friendships, which I don’t think is a bad thing.”
During her junior year of high school, Sanchez-Jimenez said she began considering colleges, and California schools were at the top of her list as she had always wanted to live here. She said she came across Pepperdine and was drawn to its small size because she had grown up going to small schools her whole life.
Aside from the size and academics, Sanchez-Jimenez said Pepperdine reminded her of home. With the beautiful surroundings and the beach nearby, she said it reminded her of the Dominican Republic.
Nevertheless, Sanchez-Jimenez said she feared she wouldn’t get into Pepperdine because she felt the odds were not in her favor.
“I was scared because of the fact that this is a predominantly white school,” Sanchez-Jimenez said. “I already knew there weren’t a lot of Hispanics or minority groups, so I was skeptical about that.”
Nonetheless, Sanchez-Jimenez got in and has found an immense sense of belonging since arriving here through the clubs and organizations she surrounds herself with.
Finding Belonging
Sanchez-Jimenez is a part of the Alpha Phi sorority and the Women in Business Club and plans to go abroad next year.
During the recruitment process, Sanchez-Jimenez said she was drawn to Alpha Phi because she sensed an emphasis on diversity. She said her sorority big — an older member of the sorority, who serves a “big sister” or mentor role — sophomore Chantal Mbayah, an international student from Kenya, has made Sanchez-Jimenez feel at home in the sorority.
“She has been able to identify with little things like coming from different places, different backgrounds, setbacks that we’ve shared and obstacles that we’ve faced,” Sanchez-Jimenez said. “It makes me feel identified, like I’m not the only one who’s gone through hard stuff.”
Similar to Sanchez-Jimenez, Chan said she has also joined student groups on campus that have impacted her sense of belonging.
Chan is involved with Koinonia Campus Mission, which she said is a Korean-American Christian ministry on campus. Within five minutes of her first event with KCM, she said she was having genuine conversations with other members.
Chan said she found her biggest sense of belonging at Pepperdine through the Well, a weekly worship service for members of the Pepperdine community. Despite the large crowds the Well attracts, Chan said she appreciates the closeness and connection present there every Wednesday night.
Chan said, with a small campus, it’s inevitable that cliques will form here and there. However, she said her experience at the Well has been the complete opposite, as she has found such a wide variety of genuine people there.
“Their [the Well’s] biggest thing is inviting random people to go to the Well and just to experience joy and belonging together,” Chan said. “They really do live what they preach.”
Finding Identity
Throughout her short time here, Chan said she already feels like Pepperdine has impacted her identity. During her time in Hawai’i, she said she faced a constant battle of feeling like she wasn’t good enough for her friends and feeling like she had to change her character to be worthy. But, here at Pepperdine, Chan feels confident in being who she is.
“The Pepperdine community has taught me it’s totally OK to be your own person and that you should be your own person,” Chan said. “You never want a friendship or relationship that’s forced, and as long as you identify with who you are, the belonging will come to you naturally.”
Sanchez-Jimenez said being at Pepperdine and away from her home and culture has made her appreciate her life and blessings a lot.
“Being here has made me come out of my shell and out of my comfort zone and be exposed to meeting new people from different backgrounds and learning about their culture,” Sanchez-Jimenez said.
Aside from everything she’s a part of on campus and the experiences she’s had, Sanchez-Jimenez said she can easily pinpoint her biggest sense of belonging to two things: her friend group and her mindset. Her friends are very ethnically and culturally diverse, she said. Even so, Sanchez-Jimenez said they are perfect for each other.
“I just feel like the people you surround yourself with, the mindset you have and the goals you set can really help you find that belonging,” Sanchez-Jimenez said.
Marcil said, whether a student is going abroad or coming to college for the first time, it can often be thought of as a glorified experience.
“If you have an experience in life that’s supposed to be really great, and it’s just not, don’t feel so bad about it when things don’t go as planned,” Marcil said. “It can be really challenging.”
At the end of the day, Marcil said everyone gets through it no matter how hard the battle might be. Ever since coming back to the Malibu campus, Marcil said she has found her friends and her people. She truly believes anyone can find a sense of community and belonging if they look for it.
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Contact Amanda Monahan by email: amanda.monahan@pepperdine.edu
