Driving down Pacific Coast Highway, past the long strip of green grass on one side with the blue ocean and horizon on the other, junior Olivia Formato formed her first ideas of college life in Malibu. Her ideas involved the beach, sun and the thought, “How would I ever get anything done if I went to school here?”
While her first sight of Malibu was driving down PCH past Alumni Park on a road trip with her family, Formato said her first true impression of Malibu was the day she spent touring Pepperdine with her family in April 2019.
“My first impression of Malibu was Pepperdine and the idea that the next step of my life could be something that had community in it, while being surrounded by nature and Los Angeles,” Formato said.
She did not know anything about the Malibu Welcome Signs or the pier, and before coming she thought it would be a much more isolated beach town with celebrities.
Without experiencing the things that make Malibu iconic, the first ideas of Malibu for many students are a mirage, students said. As they experience Pepperdine and the Malibu communities, the mirage dissipates.
How impressions of Malibu change
Formato’s first ideas of Malibu included the song by Miley Cyrus, “Malibu,” she said.
By her junior year, Formato experienced the uniqueness of college life in Malibu. She found community in her roommates and surf class, explored her faith and grounded herself with the sight of the ocean.
She grew to feel like a local, integrating herself with the regulars and feeling the small, surf-town culture.
Formato eventually learned how to get her work done and enjoy frequent rendezvous at the beach. Like many of her peers, her idea of Malibu changed.
“I think of the beach, palm trees, sunny, PCH, the pier comes to mind,” Formato said. “Funny enough, when I think of Malibu my mind goes back to what I thought of it before I came to school here.”
When reflecting on what makes her think of Malibu today, Formato said she thinks of when she’s on campus and glances at Stauffer Chapel with the ocean as the backdrop.
“It’s the people, it’s my faith that makes Malibu,” Formato said.
Formato said what’s special about Malibu is the combination of the calm, wellness-focused surf-town and the media and entertainment scene of Los Angeles.
She eventually found that Malibu is all about wellness. Nearly everyone here seeks to better themselves.
“You don’t visit Malibu to go to the McDonald’s across from Nobu, you visit to go to SunLife,” Formato said. “And when you’re at SunLife, you feel like you’re being healthy.”
Formato said she now thinks of the pier and Malibu sign that says “21 Miles of Scenic Beauty.”
“It’s when you’re driving and you’re almost in Topanga and you sit at a light by the beach and it says PCH on a sign right there,” Formato said.
She loves listening to her playlist called “Pacific Coast Highway” while driving up and down the coast or to the beach.
Senior Joseph Bowman similarly described his first ideas of Malibu as unreal. He had an idea in mind of a perfect beach town.
“You get here and it’s a little less than that fantasy, but so much more real,” Bowman said.
As a first-year, Bowman said he never thought he would integrate into the Malibu community.
“I thought I was going to be like a tourist the whole time, never get to know the local spots, never fully feel like a local,” Bowman said. “But now I do.”
Places Malibu students show visitors
Students find that the places they take friends and visitors embody the meaning of Malibu.
“I take them to the sand dunes, Ralphs Beach or the dog beach halfway down Ralphs,” Formato said.
There’s a lookout spot through Decker Canyon to pull over and look out over the canyon, which Formato said she loves to take her visitors. She likes taking them to Cafe Habana for good food and walks them through the Malibu Country Mart because she said a visit there is a necessary Malibu experience.
Bowman takes his visitors to Malibu Pier and Malibu Country Mart. He additionally takes his visitors for a hike or drive through Malibu Canyon, which he said is essential.
Senior Kyra Williams said she would also love to take her visitors to Malibu Country Mart, especially on a Sunday to visit the farmers market. She would also take them on a surf lesson to experience the surf culture here.
“I would also take them to Vitamin Barn because that feels very small town to me,” Williams said.
Malibu personified
The people that students surround themselves with and the people in the Malibu community ultimately shape ideas of Malibu.
Formato said when she thinks of Malibu, her roommates come to mind, though none of them are from California.
Formato also thinks of people in the Malibu community — rich people, people in the Malibu Country Mart wearing extravagant outfits and expensive workout wear.
“It’s very L.A. and there’s the people that dress nearly homeless but it’s a million-dollar outfit,” Formato said.
After taking surf class three semesters in a row, her surf instructors embody Malibu to her, Formato said.
Bowman thinks of Pepperdine students and people at churches in Malibu, such as Vintage Malibu and Malibu Pacific Church.
Williams observed that Malibu has a rich mix of different people.
“There’s the celebrities, the uber-wealthy boujee people, the rich hippie people, the regular people and the college kids thrown in there,” Williams said.
The Songs About Malibu
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What makes Malibu iconic
The crosswalk at Aviator Nation Dreamland and Malibu pier represents Malibu, Bowman said.
Williams and Bowman both said the Pepperdine Phillips Tower is an iconic symbol of Malibu to them.
“I’m going to remember the proximity to the beach, but also the feeling of a small town, running into people you know,” Bowman said. “There is a culture of regulars that I will remember.”
Williams said something essential about Malibu is the ease of seeing celebrities in a regular setting.
While grabbing coffee at Alfred with a friend, Williams said she and her friend caught sight of Dakota Johnson, then one time while at an ice cream shop, she saw Adam Sandler.
To Williams, the most iconic thing about Malibu is the way one’s community can be built anywhere, in the ocean within a surf community, in faith at a local church and in an assortment of different ways at Pepperdine.
“It’s so encouraging to see how impactful that community can be and how all the different people come together to support each other,” Williams said.
Williams finds Malibu iconic when witnessing the surf communities, she said. Williams works at The Surfrider Hotel and often surfs with her coworkers, seeing how her coworkers know and interact with the other surfers. Her surf instructor is a Malibu native and she feels his strong connectedness to the greater Malibu community.
Formato said she is going to remember how peaceful it was to be at school somewhere like this.
“Here I feel entertained being right by L.A. and doing fun things with my great friends, but also I feel so much peace because I’m someone who takes in a lot of joy and finds faith in nature,” Formato said. “Being surrounded by the mountains, the ocean and everything in between gives me a lot of certainty.”
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Contact Samantha Wareing via email: samantha.wareing@pepperdine.edu or by Instagram: @samanthawareing
