WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.000 music 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Xiaopeng Gong: WOU's annual Academic Excellence Showcase is a celebration of student research, 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:09.000 scholarship, and creative performances. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:17.000 Today, we have the privilege to celebrate with so many WOU students, mentors, families, 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:24.000 throughout many presentations, poster sessions, awards, performances, and special events. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:31.000 I encourage you to join the Presidential Planner session, which you are doing right now. 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:37.000 In which we are grateful to have 3 distinguished WOU faculty to share their research 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:43.000 and address many intriguing and important topics such as resilience, self care, 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:49.000 creativity, Asian American history, and social justice. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:54.000 So next, I will go ahead and introduce the first speaker which is myself. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:61.000 I'm gonna talk about resilience and self care in the times of uncertainty. 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:11.000 Dr. Xaiopeng Gong received her PhD from the Department of Educational Psychology from Boston University in Muncie, Indiana. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:17.000 She is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at Western Oregon University 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:24.000 and teach children's and adolescent learning and human development courses to undergraduate and graduate students. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:31.000 As a quantitative researcher, Dr. Gong's research involves how parenting practices 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:38.000 and the family affect the environment, effect adolescent social and emotional development 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:43.000 including emotion regulation, perfectionism, and coping strategies. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:52.000 Her recent interest involved social emotional learning for K 12 education and teacher preparations 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:59.000 and now to use social emotional learning as a tool for fostering self care in an individual's wellbeing. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:06.000 My topic today is, "Resilience and Self Care Through Times of Uncertainty." 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:14.000 First of all, I have to say I'm really honored to have the opportunity to talk about this very important topic. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:21.000 There are two reasons that I selected this topic. First, social emotional development and social emotional learning 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:29.000 has been something that I have been passionate about for years. My research centers around it. 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Students taking my classes they know this is something that's dear in my heart. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:44.000 Second, in the past three years, I started to take a new look on this topic. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:52.000 As I witness myself, and many people went through lots of crisis, in today's talk 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:58.000 there be no citations, no heavy research, no big recent findings. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:67.000 As I intend to speak to you as your family, your neighbor, your friend, your dear colleagues. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:14.000 A person who also went through the many struggles that you went through in the past 3 years. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:22.000 In the next 10 to 15 minutes, I will have a quick introduction of what resilience is 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:28.000 and then move on to the specific stresses regarding how to promote resilience. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:37.000 First of all, here is a definition provided by the American Psychological Association for resilience. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:43.000 So it says that resilience is the characteristics, "psychological characteristics 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:57.000 defined as capabilities of 'adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress." 00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:66.000 Resilience is one of the most intriguing characteristics that psychologists witness among individuals. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:11.000 We see children and people thrive and grow into content. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:21.000 Successful individuals out of poverty, disasters, wars, trauma, loss of family, disease, and etcetera. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:25.000 Children we called as, "resilient kids." 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:33.000 These negative experiences that occur in life seem to have very a minimal effect on them. 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:41.000 The either grew out of it, or in some cases, they were able to turn those obstacles, 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:49.000 barriers, tragedies, into a force. Power that keeps pushing them forward. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:54.000 In other words, the resilience within these individuals, these kids, 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:60.000 have to the negative environment and experience and the misfortunes into blessings. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.000 How did that happen? 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:11.000 I believe it is more than worthwhile to take a few minutes to examine the concept of resilience 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:17.000 and discuss about the different possible strategies we can do in every day life 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:27.000 on a daily basis to promote resilience when considering what we have been through and are still experiencing right now. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:35.000 The following tips are based on the ratings from numerous research papers, articles, 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:44.000 about social emotional learning, self care, resilience, and confined with my personal experiences. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:52.000 So the first strategy I want to talk about is, "engage in self care" and after that I will move on 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:59.000 to "reframe how to view problems and challenges." 00:05:59.000 --> 00:05:62.000 So first one, "engage in self care." 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:13.000 So the first thing I need to remind myself is to eat healthy and get enough sleep. Something really basic, right? 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:19.000 But eating well and rest well can help us to get through the most tough days. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:28.000 Start our morning with a nutritious breakfast, take your time to enjoy without worrying about anything else. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:38.000 Not reading any news or checking emails, text messages, just enjoy the moment. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:43.000 Have 8 hours of sleep. If 5 hours enough, that is fine. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:52.000 Quality of sleep is more important than quantity. Second, get regular physical activity. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:57.000 Something as simple as 10 to 15 minutes walk a day can do the magic 00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:64.000 and help to relax the nerve and body. If you want to challenge yourself, 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:10.000 Running, doing yoga, paddling, weightlifting, it is all there. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:19.000 According Maslow's model Hierarchy of Needs, eating well, sleeping well, taking good care of yourself, 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:27.000 These are all the fundamental psychological needs for human beings and these needs need to be fulfilled 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:31.000 before we can deal with other problems in life. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:40.000 Connect with nature turns out to be one of the most powerful ways to relieve stress and anxiety. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:48.000 Take your time. Again, feel the breeze, listen to the birds, bathe in the sunshine, 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:56.000 Watch clouds floating by. Just think about nothing and appreciate the moment. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:65.000 Next, connect with others. Your friends, your families, neighbors, people in the community. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:15.000 Social self determination theory tells us that human beings have 3 fundamental psychological needs. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:22.000 The need for autonomy, the need for competence, and the need for relatedness. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:31.000 While in my opinion, the need for relatedness is probably the core or the most important part of the theory, 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:41.000 it refers to our connections, our social connections with other people. We are all social beings. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:47.000 When isolated from each other like what we were told at the beginning of the pandemic, 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:51.000 it's really harmful for our wellbeing and mental health. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:62.000 Instead, finding time to reconnect, to be with people who you care about, it's a source of energy and happiness. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:11.000 Finding out meaningful ways to contribute to the community is another great way to connect with others. 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:17.000 Next, be true to yourself. Know about your emotions. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:23.000 So what do I mean by that? If you look at the picture on the right, you'll see a model. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:29.000 This is CASEL's model of the 5 key components for social emotional learning. 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:34.000 These 5 components are self awareness, self management, 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:42.000 social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:55.000 The first component is called self awareness. It refers to being aware of what emotions one person is currently experiencing. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:64.000 Take a deep breath. How do you feel now? Do you feel happy, 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:15.000 content, relaxed, or maybe you feel stressed, anxious, worried? 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:20.000 Or sometimes you may be saying, "I do not know." 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:29.000 It is important what kind of emotions we are experiencing moment by moment and accept it. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:40.000 If we do not know, take your time to relax and think about it. Keep a journal by your side. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:52.000 I write on the daily occurrences and the emotions associated with them. It's going to be helpful. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:61.000 Knowing ourselves is probably one of the most important, yet, challenging times in our lives. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:10.000 We need to admit that we do feel scared, stressed, anxious, doubtful, 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:16.000 however, these so called negative emotions are useful. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:24.000 As the can help us to ponder, to meditate, to evaluate our beings, 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:33.000 and to come up with different strategies to deal with problems. Learn to accept that we are human beings 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:41.000 and we have both positive and negative emotions. And both of them convey useful messages 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:46.000 to our mind, our body, to ourselves. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:53.000 In addition to engaging to self care, another aspect for promoting resilience 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:59.000 has to do with reframing how to view problems and challenges. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:11:67.000 Reframing means taking different perspectives, to think about these unexpected events, occurrences, 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:10.000 negative experiences, and etcetera. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:17.000 Research shows that a person will have about 6,000 thoughts a day 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:25.000 and most people simply repeat the majority of the same thoughts every day. The power of habit. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:33.000 However, as it is possible to change a habit, we can change how we think. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:40.000 Whenever there's a negative thought like, "this pandemic will never end," 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:48.000 or, "I'm going to fail this class," replace it with a positive one such as, 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:07.000 There's still plenty of time to work on things," and so on. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:14.000 Start and end a day with something positive is another useful tip. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:22.000 Take a good shower, have a glass of coffee, and a nutritious breakfast, 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:27.000 mentally think about what you look forward to for that day ahead, 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:32.000 will make a big difference for the rest of your day. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:40.000 Same thing for the night. Turn off the TV and electronic devices. Maybe read some books. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.000 Have a conversation with your family, with your kids, with your friends. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:52.000 Have a bedtime routine and go to bed early when possible. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:60.000 Find meaning in unexpected occurrences. An ancient Chinese saying goes like this, 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:09.000 For example, online instruction may be challenging, 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:18.000 however, it may be helpful to practice your skills in organization and allow some flexibility for learning as well. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:23.000 Last, but not least, gain some control. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:32.000 This is our fundamental need. So we talked about the self determination theory a moment ago. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:38.000 This is one of the fundamental psychological needs for human beings. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:48.000 So the need for autonomy has to do with, we want to control what's going on in our life, in our environment. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:54.000 Truly there's many things we cannot control. We cannot control the burnout of a pandemic. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:59.000 But we can control how we respond to it. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:14:67.000 We cannot change maybe other people's attitude toward you, but we can change 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:16.000 how we respond to it. Maybe putting more effort into it. Maybe be positive instead. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:24.000 I've been personally practicing the about principles for about 2 years since the start of the pandemic. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:32.000 And I can tell you things as simple as this. They transformed my life. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:40.000 I take one hour walk in the park every day, I try to eat healthy, I go to bed when the sun sets, 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:43.000 and get up when the sun rises. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:51.000 I start my day with a big breakfast, good breakfast. I eat like a king or queen. 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:57.000 I focus on the positive aspect of the changes in my life. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:63.000 And when I come back, many of my colleagues say, "wow, you look like a different person." 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:10.000 I do not want to pretend that I've been successful every day. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:15.000 There are days when I feel down, I feel depressed. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:24.000 Days that I do not want to take care of myself, or exercise, or take a walk, however, 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:33.000 I view every day as a new beginning. When I can start things all over again. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:43.000 As commanded in the welcoming message, a big global crisis can bring fundamental positive changes. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:51.000 A deep reflection about how to leave today and focus on, and just enjoy the moment. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:59.000 If we are reading, we can rethink and reimagine your life. Thank you. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:16:65.000 applause 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:11.000 I'll go ahead and introduce our second speaker today and we'll watch his video together. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:21.000 Our second speaker is Dr. Lin Wu. He is a first generation college student, an immigrant from China, 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:28.000 And is an Assistant Professor in the Division or Education and Leadership at Western Oregon University. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:38.000 Before joining the WOU community, he taught primary Mexican American students in Southern Arizona for 7 years 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:43.000 and started multicultural education at the University of Washington for 5 years. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:56.000 His research interest include culturally responsive pedagogy, multicultural teacher education, and Asian American education. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:63.000 He's presentation today will talk about intersectional diversity within Asian American communities. 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:09.000 and explains the roots of anti Asian racism in the United States. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:18.000 It also highlights Asian American resilience and creativity in the context of the COVID19 pandemic 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:24.000 and advocates for everyone to learn and unlearn Asian American history 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:29.000 that centers on our collective contributions and humanity. 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:38.000 In the end, the presentations call on all of us to reimagine the pandemic as a portal to justice. 00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:52.000 Dr. Gong: Again, thank you so much for joining us today at the Presidential session. Thank you. 00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:60.000 music