Are You Resilient?

— By Matthew Moore

Have you ever wondered how people persevere despite roadblocks and obstacles?

This year, The Resiliency Project, a student-faculty research project, has allowed current POLS seniors and returning POLS students to complete their senior projects under the direction of Professor Matthew J. Moore. The goal is to build a useful community resource, help current and former students complete the senior project, and create a database of essays and personal videos about people's experience of resiliency. The stories participants have submitted range from discussions of the experiences of first and second generation immigrants, to coping with racism and sexual assault, to tales of people's paths through life. Student investigators have researched and written literature reviews on how resiliency relates to education, cultural pressures on women, sexual assault, and the experiences of immigrants.

In addition to collecting several dozen submissions now available on the project website, the project has helped four current students and one former student complete the senior project so far. Another group will continue building the database next year, and there are plans for future cohorts to use content analysis and other tools to analyze the submissions.

Everyone is invited to take a look at the website, and to submit your own story of resiliency!