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SEDC Archives

2021 Conference

Hoan Do

The 2021 conference featured keynote speaker and city finalist in American Ninja Warrior, Hoan Do. From an early age, Hoan was conscious of the sacrifices his parents had made in their escape to the United States during the Vietnam War- in pursuit of the American Dream. Feeling indebted to his parents for their courageous pursuit of a better life, Hoan vowed to ensure that one day, he would be able to take care of his parents. Hoan’s hard work took him to Malibu, California, where he attended Pepperdine University, fully engaging in the academic rigor and array of opportunities that the school offered.

With the tremendous pressure Hoan placed on himself, in addition to the stresses of demanding classes, extracurricular responsibilities, and important life decisions, Hoan found himself overwhelmed. His self-esteem reached an all- time low. He even contemplated suicide. Refusing to settle and give up on life, Hoan used this experience as a turning point to learn the practical skills that was necessary to succeed in school and in life."

Breakout Sessions

Professionalism 101

Angela Bagget, Talisha St. John, Sara Trench

Professionalism is more than a buzz word: it's how you act, interact, and succeed in the workplace. Professional practices are important at each stage of the job cycle for success. This presentation will apply the principles of professionalism to the application and interview process, thriving in your current role, and moving upward and onward in your career path. Special focus is placed on professionalism in each phase when working either in-person or virtual and touches on topics of workplace communication, phone and email etiquette, ethics, respect, attire, expectations, discretion, and accountability.

Being Brave - Giving, Receiving, and Incorporating Feedback as a Professional

Dr. Shannon Nolan-Aranez

It is essential to your growth that you're able to give, receive, and incorporate constructive feedback. This workshop will incorporate tips and tricks for the feedback loop and give you tangible tools for you to be brave during your next feedback experience! BE BRAVE. YOU and YOUR TEAM are worth it! 

What is Your Enneagram Animal and Other Fun Facts about Your Personality Type

Jill Flaa

Are you interested in a tool that may help you better understand your core motivations and enhance your emotional intelligence? AND How to apply that knowledge to team dynamics, leadership, conflict resolution -- in all areas of your life? Then this session is for you! The Enneagram is a tool for personality typing that describes patterns in how people interpret the world and manage their emotions. Come learn which of the nine personality types aligns with you!

2019 Conference

Theme: Navigating Your Path Toward Holistic Success

figure climbing mountain

The 2019 conference featured keynote speaker and adventurer, David Montero of Outward Bound California, who began the day with a message about goal setting, perseverance, and the importance of peer support. Breakout sessions focused on topics such as developing a personal brand, financial wellness, leadership, and communication. The day wrapped up with a panel of student affairs professionals who shared their experiences and paths to careers in higher education.

View the 2019 conference schedule.

Breakout Sessions

Beyond Passion: Strategies to Design Your Life | Karin Iwasaka

Learn how to apply principles from bestselling book Designing Your Life to envision a meaningful career and life. This fun session will energize you to navigate career possibilities that align with your values.

Developing Your Brand on Paper: Resume Writing | Joshua Galeai

This workshop will focus on basic tips to create a resume with a focus on highlighting skill sets that may be included or developed through on-campus student assistant positions. Students will earn how to develop a professional looking resume that highlights their student employee experience. 

Exercising Confidence | Allie Serrano

In this session, I will facilitate a presentation and lead a dialogue on confidence. It can be "messy," but that is part of the personal development and leadership process, and owning mistakes and learning is a sign of strength and gaining respect. The session walks through learning and unlearning confidence tools and barriers, and how to utilize values and experiences to respond to situations in which one may not be naturally confident. Case studies will offer a space to individually reflect and share out with a small and large group.

Face Change or Be Dragged | Shannon Nolan-Arañez

"Face change or be dragged" - is a Zen proverb that embodies the notion that change will find you and you're better off facing than avoiding it. Change is something that you will face in every aspect of your life and it many times comes with anxiety and stress. This workshop will give you some tools to cope with unexpected changes, plan for the foreseen changes, and empower yourself to not be dragged through changes but to face them with confidence and courage!

Financial Wellness | Darci Lange

This session provides basic life budgeting skills; from how to handle day to day finances, to long-term planning ideas. The goal is to help students understand how to manage their daily finances, so they can live without the stress of letting their finances run (and ruin) their lives.

Identifying and Developing Your Personal Leadership Style | Lorena Checa

This session helps students identify their personal leadership style based upon their experiences and inherent strengths and provides methods for how to develop as a leader in any style. Students are encouraged to examine the responsibilities of leadership regarding advocacy for and development of others, situational context, differing opinions, and interconnectedness through the lens of their unique experiences and styles.

Message Intent, Message Perception and the Art (Importance) of Seeking Clarification | Catherine Matsumoto

Imagine a scenario beginning with an ambiguous statement (delivered face-to-face or e-mail); is your first reaction a knee jerk response that begins a spiral of hurt feelings and distrust or rather, do you take a step back and seek clarification? This workshop invites participants to examine the communication process via the Transactional Model of Communication. By understanding how the elements play a role in co-creating effective (or ineffective) communication, participants can better recognize the need to seek clarification. 

An Introduction to Mindfulness and Its Effectiveness for Stress Reduction | Jay Robertson-Howell

Students will be introduced to the basics of mindfulness practice and its effectiveness in managing stress, then engage in the practice of mindfulness through two short guided mindfulness practices. Students will be able to identify two core concepts of mindfulness practice.

Ten Great Things All Great Leaders Have in Common | Erin Fullerton

Whether leading a work team or a sports team, a group of three or a company of 3,000, there are some characteristics that all great leaders have in common. Although effective leadership comes in many forms and styles, in this workshop you will learn about 10 of the characteristics that set highly effective leaders apart from the rest.

We Need to Talk: Navigating Crucial Conversations | Kimberly Peirce

Teamwork makes the dream work! But what do you do when the team isn’t working out so well? This interactive workshop will help you learn what to do to deescalate an uncomfortable situation, share tips on how to approach crucial conversations, and will leave you feeling optimistic about reaching that common goal.