The RISE learning materials that were provided to each student enrolled in the course are shown next to each other. Inside each book holds various lesson plans to promote resilience. Photo by Audrey Geib
As the first semester of Seaver 200 came to a close and a new one began, the experience divided students.
Pepperdine’s new Seaver 200 program replaced the old Convocation credit requirement for lower-level students. Student Affairs created RISE, Resilience-Informed Skills Education, for students to develop their skills through a 10-week program — but some students said they’re unhappy with the curriculum.
“I feel like it was useless,” first-year Owen Snyder said. “I think it could have just been a one-day thing where we talk about our goals for the semester, and then maybe meet back one more time at the end.”
RISE focused on six categories for students to explore to prepare them for life’s challenges: physical, cognitive, social, spiritual, life skills and service.
The groups consisted of 10 to 20 students each led by different faculty and staff. First-year Brooke Carter said she is grateful for the experience because she was able to meet students that she otherwise may not have.
“There were a few people that I had not met,” Carter said. “Now I know them through my RISE group, or even if I had just met them, I got to know them better through my RISE group, which was very cool.”
In past years, all students participated in Convocation where they had the opportunity to select their attendance at various events to culminate 14 throughout the semester. However, Pepperdine adjusted this requirement going into the 2021-22 school year.
Many students said they were not aware of what the program would entail prior to their first meeting. Snyder thought the program would be more religiously centered than it was.
“I thought it was just going to be like a church gathering; like they say some excerpts from the Bible, and we’d pray,” Snyder said.
Each RISE group followed the same lesson plan to dive deeper into each topic and provide students with practical ways to improve their day-to-day resilience, according to the RISE website. Carter said she believes that if the students were intentional in applying the information, it would be beneficial to their day-to-day resilience.
“I think the curriculum was very easy to apply if you’re willing to think about it throughout your week because we were given weekly goals,” Carter said.
All Seaver first-year students had the opportunity to select their preferred group and time. However, the information and topics in each group remained the same.
First-year Travis Feltz said he agreed that some of the information from the first semester of RISE was useful, but not transformative.
“I will hold on to it a little bit but it wasn’t like the most life-changing information that I’ve ever received,” Feltz said.
In the spring semester, students chose their groups, each with different sizes and topics ranging from An Introduction to Christianity to Faith and Hiking.
Feltz said he believes that by allowing students to choose their breakout group topic, they can feel more connected to the information that they are learning.
“It allows people to choose something they’re interested in, and when they’re interested in it, they’ll probably listen to it more and take more lessons away,” Feltz said.
Faculty and staff lead groups with help from students and guest speakers. Carter chose the breakout group, Faith and Leadership not only due to the topic but also because of the appeal of a guest speaker leading the group.
“I read her bio and it seems really interesting,” Carter said. “She seemed really knowledgeable, so I am excited to see what she has to say about it.”
Feltz chose the breakout group called Cohort for Belonging that tackles the history of the church and supports each student’s capacity to pursue God’s heart for racial reconciliation.
“I picked the Cohort for Belonging because they talked a little bit about racial justice in it,” Feltz said. “And I thought that’s just a topic that I’m interested in, so I just want to learn more about that.”
Snyder selected the group Living Life to the Full: The Secrets to Joy alongside some of his suitemates to learn about the path to a joyful life guided by the lessons found in the Bible. He said he looks forward to gaining more insight into living a better life with practical tools in the Spring semester.
“I’m hoping it’s much more exciting and they just give us actual strategies to use to like, not have any regrets in our life,” Snyder said.
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Email Audrey Geib: audrey.geib@pepperdine.edu
