University of California, Merced - Jody Murray

At Bobcat Day, Students Explore Opportunities, Picture Their Futures

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 21:08:57 +0000

By Jody Murray, ��Ƶ��APP

April 20, 2026

��Ƶ��APP students (and Rufus) welcomed the opportunity to tell the unique story of the Central Valley's only research university.

A throng of people came to ��Ƶ��APP on a crisp, blue-sky Saturday for Bobcat Day. More than 7,000 were registered to attend the April 18 event for admitted and prospective first-year and transfer students, along with their families.

The day was an opportunity for people to meet professors, advisors and service providers; talk to current students from clubs and organizations; tour the campus and its residence halls and labs; and see in person (many for the first time) one of the nation’s top 25 universities, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Here are some sights, moments and people from Bobcat Day 2026:

In welcoming remarks, Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said prospective ��Ƶ��APP students sometimes tell him a University of California education seems too costly or that they aren’t the UC type. “I respectfully tell them we are here precisely for them,” he said. “The majority of our students graduate with no debt and, with generous financial aid, many have little or no costs at all. Second, you have been accepted. You earned this. You belong here.”
Gia Sanni of Sacramento plans to major in biology and wants to become a pediatrician. She was inspired by the Medical Education Building, currently under construction and scheduled to open for the next academic year. “I really want to jump into research in my first couple of years,” Sanni said.
In a talk called “The Journey of a Former Student,” Bobcat alumnus Giovanni Gonzalez Araujo recalled how, in his second year, his major wasn’t working out; he sought a quick switch to public health. An advisor slowed the student’s roll, sending him to the Career Center for an assessment. The result: Araujo switched to computer science and engineering. Today, he’s a ��Ƶ��APP professor in that discipline. “That advisor changed the trajectory of my life,” he said.
Leo Arriola, dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, told a full auditorium of future Bobcats and their parents that “the aim of SSHA is to build the skills needed to navigate the real world.” This can include combining disciplines; a public health major and Spanish minor, for instance, can prepare for a fulfilling career at a rural or urban clinic, Arriola said.
On stage in another packed auditorium across campus, Professor Michael Findlater, interim dean of the School of Natural Sciences, said undergraduates have life-changing opportunities. “What sets us apart at ��Ƶ��APP is not only the amazing research our faculty does but also” — Findlater swept a hand toward several young people in the front row — “the amazing research these people do, these undergraduates.”
Another major-minor combo suggested by SSHA Dean Arriola: business administration and psychology. The result: a career as an analyst who studies how people make financial choices.

James Khalar came to Bobcat Day with his mom, unsure if ��Ƶ��APP was the right fit. Someone at a table caught his eye, asking for two minutes of his time. They told the Turlock High School student about the Yosemite Leadership Program. The timing was uncanny: Khalar aspires to be a park ranger. “That was amazing to me,” he said of the encounter. “Hearing about that program was a great selling point.”
At the Experimental Smart Farm table, students handed out 2-inch sprouts of pepper plants. The Merced Pre-Law Society table featured a wooden gavel begging to be rapped. At the Vietnamese Student Association table, dragon heads in vivid red, yellow and blue sat on the sidewalk, waiting for their performance.
The Associated Students of ��Ƶ��APP ran the Catcave, where attendees could sit down, pick up a controller and play a few minutes of Fortnite or Mario Kart.
Two future Bobcats who plan to major in political science explained what drew them to ��Ƶ��APP. Yanexy Franco of Orange in Southern California said he received “generous” financial aid and that studying in the Central Valley “will open up new horizons for me to explore.” Maddie Hewes said ��Ƶ��APP’s campus and class sizes will make for an easier transition for a teenager from Hilmar, a town of about 5,000 northwest of Merced.
All manner of bones covered the table of the Paleontology & Life Organization, but the eye-grabber was the fearsome skull of a smilodon, better known as a saber-toothed cat. “It’s kind of our club mascot,” student Quinn Cartwright said.
��Ƶ��APP is 20 miles from Livingston — a big plus, Marilyn Guzman said. “I didn’t want to be too far from my parents.” She said the financial aid offered was generous; for example, her housing is paid for. And then there’s her major. She chose aerospace engineering because she is fascinated by rocket science. “I want to see where it takes me.”

Author Mark Arax Wraps Up Residency with Lecture on California’s ‘Last Extraction’

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:02:27 +0000

By Jody Murray, ��Ƶ��APP

April 20, 2026

Author Mark Arax, ��Ƶ��APP writer-in-residence for the 2025-26 academic year, talks to a history class. Arax will give a closing lecture April 22.

Spending an hour with one of California’s most accomplished storytellers left a mark on Rowan Alcocer.

“I was impressed by his ability to find a metaphor in almost anything,” the ��Ƶ��APP student said. “He made his points in a way that was easy to understand.”

Alcocer, a first-year political science major, and other students in a California history class heard a talk by author and journalist Mark Arax, whose deeply reported stories reveal the people and paradoxes that stir the Central Valley he calls home.

Arax is wrapping up an academic year as the university’s writer in residence. In this role, he has given students up-close views of how he researches and writes, bringing the lessons to life with his gift for detailed, layered storytelling. Or, as was the case in Professor David Rouff’s class, Arax weaved history and his lived experience into an engaging talk about California’s unique tapestry.

His visit to the class was one of Arax’s last stops before a final lecture scheduled for Wednesday, April 22. Arax, author of landmark books about the Valley such as “The King of California” and “The Dreamt Land,” will speak in the Lakireddy Auditorium (Room 102 in Classroom and Office Building 1). The two-hour event will start at 3:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception. There is no admission charge; an RSVP is requested.

The lecture will center on what Arax calls “the last extraction.” He explained that California is a contradiction — a world leader in social acceptance and environmental stewardship, as well as in military development and artificial intelligence.

Over the centuries, people in California have extracted Indigenous people from their land, slaughtered animals for fur coats, panned rivers and blasted mountains to oblivion for gold, and diverted Sierra water to thirsty coastal cities.

Gold, as a metaphor for discovery, riches and power, persists in California “like dust in the air,” Arax said.

He said the state’s last extraction is the human mind, prey to smartphones, social media and AI’s potential to turn our lives inside out.

“AI has already taken the whole of humanity and turned it into something that just makes money,” he said. “It’s here to exploit and extract from humanity.”

Arax said he found hope in the engaged, young students he met at his workshops and around the campus.

“It’s been a learning experience for me,” said Arax, who gave as good as he got. At one workshop, he talked about his 1997 Los Angeles Times article about the state champion McFarland High School boys’ cross country team (their story was developed into the movie “McFarland, USA”). At another, a former correctional officer joined him live online to flesh out a discussion of his Times exposé about guard brutality at Corcoran State Prison.

“The students have been deeply attentive to the story of Mark’s journey as a journalist and writer,” said Emily Lin, the ��Ƶ��APP Library’s director of strategic initiatives, archives and special collections. The library and the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts co-sponsored Arax’s residency. “They’ve seen how Mark continues to grapple with making sense of current events and issues that resonate with all of us.”

“I worry that technology has taken so much from them,” Arax said of his young listeners, “but I found there’s a lot of fight left in them, a lot of curiosity.

“I mean, they just blow you away with how bright they are.”

New Liberal Studies Major Expands Paths for Degree Completion and Future Teachers

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:03:24 +0000

By Jody Murray, ��Ƶ��APP

April 13, 2026

The new liberal studies major is offered through the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts.

A highly customizable degree that rewards curiosity, reaches out to a diverse set of learners and prepares scholars for people-centered careers has arrived at ��Ƶ��APP.

Liberal studies, a bachelor’s program that taps into disciplines in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, debuts in the fall 2026 semester. Students can parlay the degree’s flexibility with core ��Ƶ��APP attributes such as undergraduate research and easy access to professors and advisers.

A liberal studies program has qualities for a range of scholars, but is particularly attractive for students:

Transferring coursework from a community college
Resuming an academic career that life had put on hold
Preparing for a career teaching elementary or middle-school children

Catherine Koehler led the effort to add liberal studies to SSHA’s degrees. She said the major grew out of the university’s Degree Completion Program, which she leads as executive director.

“We expect it to serve a lot of different students, including those who are looking for efficient pathways back to the university to finish their degrees,” said Koehler, who is also a teaching professor of writing studies.

Flexibility is the key advantage. Transfer students and those returning to college after a long break often have a patchwork of credits, sometimes from different institutions. Liberal studies can accept a wide range of prior coursework, creating a faster path to graduation.

In addition, transfers or returning students who haven’t set a career direction can explore across disciplines in the social and natural sciences without having to switch majors and lose time.

The degree joins initiatives that invite students to continue their higher education at ��Ƶ��APP. The university offers transfer students streamlined paths into dozens of disciplines. It has agreements with several California community colleges to accept qualified transfers. On campus, the Promise Housing project will provide apartments for hundreds of transfers from Merced College.

Koehler said the degree’s goals of broadening paths to four-year diplomas and preparing people for teaching careers fit ��Ƶ��APP’s mission for the Central Valley.

“We were founded to expand access to a UC education for students in the Valley, and that includes adult learners who are trying to return to campus,” Koehler said. “We want to create economic mobility through degree completion and career readiness.”

The coursework is customized to a student’s needs and interests, drawing from disciplines ranging from economics and history to cognitive science. Koehler will teach two bookend courses: an introduction to liberal studies and a “capstone” course that pulls together everything the student has learned.

Students who aspire to be teachers can use liberal studies to pave a smooth career path. Broad, interdisciplinary coursework satisfies requirements for a multiple-subject credential, good for teaching kindergarten through eighth grade. Graduates can waive the California exam usually required to earn the credential, saving time and money.

The degree works alongside CalTeach, a program that trains future educators with an on-campus learning lab and experiences with young students at Valley schools. The university’s numerous research opportunities, along with annual events such as the Bobcat Summer STEM Academy, help students expand and fine-tune their teaching skills.

“We have a big need in the Valley for early childhood and elementary educators,” Koehler said.

Nancy Myrick recently resumed her academic journey after years of focusing on parenthood. She lives in Merced, attends Merced College and wants to become a teacher. Myrick attended a recent ��Ƶ��APP event for transfer students and talked to SSHA faculty and CalTeach representatives.

She has been accepted to ��Ƶ��APP and just needs some financial aid assurance before she enrolls.

“I was really impressed by what I heard,” Myrick said. “Since I’m a Merced native, I would be proud to graduate from my hometown.”

Her ��Ƶ��APP Path Changed But Stockton Student Stays on Track

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:05:02 +0000

By Jody Murray, ��Ƶ��APP

March 25, 2026

An obstacle led to personal and academic revelation for Taliyah Miller, who will graduate in four years with two majors.

Taliyah Miller would be the first to tell you she arrived at ��Ƶ��APP with an unwavering, long-range goal: become an anesthesiologist. What she could not have predicted was that a difficult roommate, a therapist’s question and a job she forgot she applied for would upend that goal and leave her better for it.

Miller was raised in Stockton, the third-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley. As the youngest of three with siblings several years older, it was like being an only child. She developed an independent personality early on.

All the Miller children attended Stockton Collegiate, a K–12 charter school. By 11th grade she was deep in its International Baccalaureate diploma program. She credited one course, called Theory of Knowledge, for preparing her for the future.

“That class set me up for college so well,” Miller said. “It touched on every single subject you learn in school and why we study them. I felt almost over-prepared for college coming in.”

Miller applied to nearly every UC campus with the aim of majoring in biological sciences and starting down the path to anesthesiology. ��Ƶ��APP’s growing medical education program caught her attention, as did the financial aid package, which settled a final choice between ��Ƶ��APP and the University of San Francisco.

Time for a Reset

“It felt like I could get a fresh start,” she said of attending the Valley campus. “I wouldn’t be far from home, but it was far enough for me to gain independence. I was getting a reset, which I really needed.”

Her first year went generally as planned. Her second did not. A conflict with a roommate sent Miller into a tailspin. She began attending sessions with the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services. What started as a response to a difficult living situation evolved into something more: a guided examination of who she was and what she wanted.

Her therapist made a game-changing observation: Miller seemed more interested in the history and culture behind biology than in the science itself. Sit in on an anthropology course, the therapist said, and see what happens.

Miller found that biological anthropology wove together what she loved about science with the historical and human dimensions she was drawn to. She switched her major to anthropology. She later added a second major in critical race and ethnic studies (CRES). The two disciplines spoke to each other, she said, particularly around anthropology’s complicated historical relationship with eugenics and indigenous communities.

The pivot changed everything. Her new double major felt like a conversation she had been trying to have her whole life. The crisis that brought her to counseling had reset her purpose.

Mentoring Other Students

Around the same time, Miller applied to be a peer navigator with the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. It was one of many campus jobs she applied for, so when a callback came from SSHA she scrambled to research the role before an interview. She turned out to be an ideal fit.

“Taliyah brings a positive and collaborative energy that students and staff naturally gravitate toward,” said Destiny Dias, a SSHA academic advising support specialist. “She is willing to step in wherever needed, and she approaches her work with professionalism and genuine care for the students she serves.”

The job altered the trajectory of her academic career in a second, quieter way. Working alongside other students to map out their degree pathways, she turned the same skills on herself. She ran her own degree audit, identified the overlap between her former pre-med coursework and her new anthropology and CRES requirements, and learned that graduating in four years was still achievable.

“I feel like it’s one of the most educational jobs you can have on campus,” Miller said of the peer navigator role. “Without it, I don’t think I would have known that I could double major and still graduate on time.”

Miller will walk in spring commencement, then complete two courses this summer to close out her degrees.

After graduation, she plans to take a gap year before pursuing a master’s in library and information sciences, with her sights set on archival work. It is a destination she found through anthropology and CRES, through a therapist’s insight, and through years of letting herself be surprised by where curiosity leads.

Ripon Student Turning Heart and Heritage into a Path of Healing

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 16:04:24 +0000

By Jody Murray, ��Ƶ��APP

March 19, 2026

Grace Grinder carries lessons learned in her Central Valley hometown of Ripon and through her membership in an Indigenous tribe.

As a child of the Central Valley and a member of a Native tribe, Grace Grinder developed an early awareness of health care disparities affecting rural regions and underserved communities.

While in third grade, Grinder lost her grandmother to what she described as too few physicians nearby to provide timely, quality care. That loss planted a seed.

Today, Grinder is a third-year biological sciences major with an emphasis in human biology at ��Ƶ��APP. She aims to be a physician. Grinder carries with her the lessons learned in Ripon, a small city about 12 miles north of Modesto, and through her roots as Karuk, an Indigenous people from the mountains and rivers of Northern California.

Childhood dreams about becoming a doctor were sharpened at Ripon High School, thanks to an anatomy and physiology class taught by a teacher named Ann Pendleton.

"Learning all about the human body and all of the different fields you can go into helped solidify that this is something I want to do, and that I can make a difference," Grinder said.

Conversations with Pendleton, along with stories from classmates whose families also experienced inadequate medical care, made clear to Grinder that the Valley needs more physicians — and that she could be one of them.

Her Karuk heritage added another dimension to that calling. Though the tribe's homeland is hundreds of miles north of Ripon, Grinder engaged with her roots through advocacy for Indigenous life and by recognizing that tribal communities face the same medical shortfalls as the Valley. Being a voice for underserved communities, she said, has always felt natural to her.

When the time came to choose a university, Grinder had options — many of them. The Native American Opportunities Program, which covers tuition for students with Indigenous roots, opened doors at schools across the state. She was accepted at six UC campuses, along with the University of Nevada, Reno. She chose ��Ƶ��APP.

"I wanted to be a part of something where I could lead change for my community," she said, referring both to her hometown and to the relatively young ��Ƶ��APP campus.

The university’s smaller scale, the approachability of the faculty, a sense that students could do far more than just attend classes — all of it resonated. She accepted her admission offer on March 1, the same day it arrived.

That instinct has paid off. Grinder said she is now on a first-name basis with most of her professors and has taken advantage of several opportunities.

During her second year, Grinder used a writing course to research the prevalence of human trafficking in the San Joaquin Valley. Her paper examined the shortage of resources available to health care providers and public health workers confronting trafficking in rural areas, and pushed back against the widespread tendency to underestimate the problem.

Today, she is vice president of Fashion Forward, a new student-run program built around clothing and community; a member of the crochet club; and an active participant in the American Medical Student Association. She serves as a mentor in the university’s medical education program, organizing Zoom calls and helping keep students on track.

She recently started working as a scribe at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto and will shadow a neurologist there — a connection she made through ��Ƶ��APP's medical education mentoring program.

Statistics estimate that less than 1% of U.S. physicians identify as Indigenous Americans. Grinder wants to do what she can to move the needle, with ��Ƶ��APP playing a big role in that effort.

"Every day I step onto this campus,” she said, “I know that I made the right choice."

Delhi Student Made the Leap to ��Ƶ��APP and Hasn’t Looked Back

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 18:04:38 +0000

By Jody Murray, ��Ƶ��APP

March 17, 2026

Nayelyi Salazar has made her mark at ��Ƶ��APP as a peer navigator, Honors Program student and cheer team member.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. A few more taps and Nayelyi Salazar would be a community college student — a big step for the high-schooler from Delhi, a town of 10,000 that hugs California’s Highway 99.

She hesitated. Days earlier, she received an acceptance letter from a University of California campus. Awesome news, but she couldn’t shake doubts about being UC-worthy. What to do? She leaned back from the laptop. It was a Friday. She would take the weekend to think it over.

Should she go straight to ��Ƶ��APP?

“In the end, I thought, ‘Let’s do this,’” Salazar said.

Today, evidence supports Salazar being UC-worthy, and then some. The second-year public health major is in the University Honors Program. She helps fellow students navigate the twists and turns of academics. She’s on the ��Ƶ��APP cheer team.

Salazar wants a career in medicine but insists on the university experience being more than a pre-med grind. She enjoys the rich mix of cultures and backgrounds that make up the student body. She gives herself the OK to have fun (she was also a cheerleader at Delhi High School). She likes the idea of taking a year off between her bachelor’s degree and medical school.

Last August, she began working as a peer navigator for the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. From a desk in the school’s advising office, she counsels students on decisions about major or minor degrees, or double majors. She answers questions about courses and about the school’s culture. She works behind the scenes to ensure workshops for students run smoothly.

"Nayelyi demonstrates exceptional dedication to supporting students," Student Services Director Brenda Maldonado-Rosas said. "Her strong attention to detail contributes to a smooth and positive experience for them."

"She always goes above and beyond," added Carolyn Barranco, academic advisor and student engagement coordinator.

Salazar said she was inspired by Jonathan Mesa Marquez, a peer mentor who supported her in her first year. “He really understood what we first-years were feeling,” she said of Marquez, who mentored in the NextGen Health Professionals Living Learning Community. “He would go out of his way to make sure we had opportunities.”

Salazar grew up in Delhi, a tightly knit, largely Latino Central Valley town located 20 miles north of Merced and 20 miles south of Modesto. She’s the youngest child of a large family that spoke Spanish at home. Her elementary and middle schools used a dual-language program that taught her core subjects, such as math and history, in Spanish to increase comprehension.

Dual-language programs don’t extend to high schools, so Salazar had to sharpen her language skills as a Delhi Hawk. An already challenging transition was made tougher by the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone attended classes from home as freshmen. She could have rejoined her classmates as a sophomore, but stayed home for half the school year to protect her grandparents, who lived with her family.

“When I was finally able to be a high school student in person, it was like, ‘Ready or not, here I come,’” Salazar said. People she knew from elementary and middle school, along with other students, became fast friends. She added college-credit courses to her class load and joined Future Business Leaders of America.

Nevertheless, she still felt that community college was her next destination. “I just didn’t feel prepared for the UC system yet,” she said. Teachers and friends urged her to take the bigger leap. Her older brother, who attended California State University, Stanislaus, chimed in. “He said, ‘If you have the opportunity to go straight to a UC, why not try it?’”

And, of course, she did. Salazar encourages others to follow her lead.

“��Ƶ��APP is all about diversity and respect,” she said. “It has done so many great things for me. If you are a high school student or a transfer, I say, ‘Go for it.’”

��Ƶ��APP Launches California Government and Policy Certificate Program

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:05:37 +0000

By Jody Murray, ��Ƶ��APP

March 16, 2026

Graduates of the program's first cohort celebrated with faculty, staff and friends.

The inner machinery of democracy in California – from bills and lobbying to courts and elections – is revealed in a professional certification program launched at the University of California, Merced.

��Ƶ��APP’s Division of Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) offers the Professional Certificate in California Government and Policy. The program is presented in partnership with the university’s Center for Analytic Political Engagement (CAPE).

The 24-week Government and Policy certification consists of four courses:

California State Government Overview
Lobbying & Budget
Elections, Direct Democracy & Rulemaking
California Legislature, Process & Drafting

Program graduate Brandon Souza said the certification was exactly what he needed for a career pivot into Sacramento’s political landscape.

“The instruction, along with an impressive lineup of guest lecturers, delivered a wealth of insight,” said Souza, now a senior strategy consultant at Change Craft. “I now have a strong understanding of the inner workings of California politics.”

Another graduate, Brock Cavett, said the knowledge gained from the certification program helped him secure a job as Director of Advocacy and Programs at San Diego Pride.

“As a full-time working professional, the program was structured in a way that allowed me to maximize my participation through discussion posts and other assignments while having the flexibility to engage with class content in a way that worked with my schedule,” Cavett said.

“I highly recommend this certificate to anyone who is considering entering the world of politics but may not have the time or ability to complete a full master’s program.”

The program instructor is Chris Micheli, an attorney and lobbyist with the government relations firm Snodgrass & Micheli LLC. Micheli is an adjunct professor at the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.

“The goal of the professional certificate is to provide a solid foundation for students interested in working in local or state government in California,” Micheli said. “While the courses are asynchronous, I provide several live lectures, and we have high-caliber guest lecturers scheduled for each course.”

PACE collaborates with subject experts to provide lifelong learners with in-demand career skills. Courses and programs promote social mobility and develop a knowledgeable and agile workforce. CAPE, part of ��Ƶ��APP’s political science program, leverages experiential learning to equip students with the knowledge and skills to navigate politics, policy and governance.

PACE Dean Annette Roberts Webb said: “The professional certificate reflects our commitment to expanding access to high‑quality, practice‑focused education that empowers today’s workforce. We’re proud to offer a pathway that supports civic leadership, career mobility, and informed participation in California’s future.”

For more about the Professional Certificate in California Government and Policy, visit this information and enrollment page or email pace@ucmerced.edu.

Together We Will Summit Inspires, Empowers Girls in Sports

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 01:01:24 +0000

By Jody Murray, ��Ƶ��APP

March 9, 2026

Nearly 150 girls from about 30 Central Valley high schools attended the conference.

Victoria Garrick Browne, a nationwide advocate for mental health and self-care, had a simple message for a big room full of high school girls gathered for the Together We Will Sports Leadership Summit at ��Ƶ��APP.

“Be where your feet are,” said Browne, a former NCAA Division I volleyball player whose messages of empowerment have attracted more than 2 million social media followers. “Many times, our feet are here while our head is thinking about tomorrow.”

Tamp down spiraling thoughts by focusing on the moment, Browne told the girls. Zero in on the referee’s whistle, the rumble of the crowd, your toes wiggling in your cleats.

“These sensory things can help bring you back into the moment,” Browne said.

Nearly 150 young women from about 30 Central Valley high schools attended the conference, which brought together speakers, mentors and health experts to help participants build skills for success in competition and life.

The conference provided a safe and supportive space for young athletes to talk openly about resilience, performance, and mental and physical health.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back when things get tough. For girls in athletics, it plays a huge role. According to research, 55% of young females in sports experience depression and 35% feel mentally exhausted. They are three to five times more likely to suffer from eating disorders or struggle with body image.

“Today is about community, it’s about confidence, it’s about connection,” said conference co-chair Lesley Slaton Brown, a former chief diversity officer for the National Basketball Association. Brown grew up in Merced and played basketball through college.

“Sports helped shape who I am today,” Brown said. “It taught me resilience, leadership and heart.”

A Confidence Boost from a Superstar

Danielle Slaton, a silver medalist in soccer at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and co-founder of the Bay FC, a National Women’s Soccer League team, was the conference’s keynote speaker.

Words have power, she told her young audience, so use them with intention. She remembered U.S. team captain Carla Overbeck calming Slaton, a newcomer to the national team, by saying Slaton earned her roster spot and “you’re going to make us better someday.”

She also described a side trip in Sydney with superstar Mia Hamm to get their eyebrows waxed.

“I’d never done this before, but I didn’t flinch. ‘Wow, you’re tough,’ the lady said. And Mia, without missing a beat, said, ‘I could have told you she was tough.’

“That changed my Olympics,” she said. “I’m telling you I will never forget that. Mia Hamm thinks I’m tough.”

Slaton’s words resonated with Daniela Melgoza, who plays basketball and flag football at Pitman High School in Turlock.

“She said words go a long way. They’re like putting money in a bank,” Melgoza said. “That stood out to me as a way to bond with your teammates and build trust.”

Together We Will was made possible by the support of generous sponsors. Attendees received special swag donated by Custom Ink along with giveaways from the WNBA, Title Nine and the Golden State Warriors.

Breakout sessions at the conference focused on crucial elements of girls in athletics: developing leadership skills, building physical and mental foundations for performance, healthy diets, and developing confidence and self-advocacy.

Putting Mistakes in Perspective

Casey Watkins, a research associate at Auckland University of Technology, said the road to self-confidence includes avoiding perfectionism. She noted that tennis great Roger Federer won 54 percent of his career points played but won 80 percent of his games. Watkins cited figure skater Alysa Liu, who walked away from her sport at age 13 but returned on her own terms and won an Olympic gold medal.

“So many times, when we see others, we compare their successes to our mistakes,” she said. “The way we talk to ourselves … can dictate how much we feel like we are worthy in a situation and how we then change our behavior.”

Jessie Anderson, a 2010 graduate of ��Ƶ��APP and a production and engineering manager for SpaceX, said zeroing in on fundamentals is equally important in playing sports and launching rockets.

“I bring everybody on my team back to fundamentals every day,” said Anderson, who co-founded ��Ƶ��APP’s first women’s basketball club. “Let’s get back to the basics and then go execute.”

Good leaders help teammates focus on shared goals instead of disparate personalities. Look for connections, she said, that foster empathy and reduce friction.

“I work with some of the smartest people in the universe,” Anderson said. “The single best thing I contribute that lets us do these complex, crazy things is to keep it as simple as possible.”

Reagan Morrison of Oakdale High School, a cheer squad member and flag football player, said Anderson inspired her.

“The way she learned how to guide others and help them succeed, I can use that for my team and for myself,” she said.

Busting Barriers to Healthy Eating

Heidi Strickler, a registered sports dietitian, broke down a number of myths, including that all sugar is bad and carbs are unnecessary. Strickler asked attendees about the barriers they face to eating healthy. The girls cited time, availability of good food, peer pressure and simply not knowing what to eat.

The first step, Strickler said, is to redefine “healthy” and to realize there are no intrinsically good or bad foods.

“All foods fit and something is better than nothing,” they said. “When I think about my own journey, the times when I thought I was eating the healthiest ... I was injured all the time, sick all the time, clinically depressed. I was not eating healthy for my body.”

Competition days can be particularly rough for athletes, who have to navigate travel, lack of time and nerves. Strickler advocated what they called “drippy faucet eating” — a slow, steady consumption of snacks.

“It’s easier to eat small things more frequently,” they said.

A regimen of neuromuscular training that targets the legs, hips and glutes is essential for female athletes, said Amy Sekhon, a sports medicine physician and associate vice chancellor for health and well-being at ��Ƶ��APP. The training, which requires only 10 minutes per body part twice a week, is “an absolute must” to build strength and ward off knee injuries, she said.

Sekhon also framed sleep — at least eight hours a night — as a physical and mental performance tool. Young athletes who cut those hours short are 1.7 times more likely to sustain an injury, she said.

However, when injuries do occur, it is crucial to treat healing as a structured journey and rehabilitation as a different kind of sport.

“Having a growth mindset that uses recovery not as a dead end but as a training phase encourages you to view rehab as a challenge to be conquered,” she said.

Jenna Zuniga took Sekhon’s words to heart. Zuniga, a STUNT and cheer athlete at Summerville High School, recovered recently from a months-long injury.

“A lot of what she said about staying connected with your team and preventing injuries — about having a good mindset — made sense to me.”

'The Energy and Connection Were Palpable'

Together We Will co-organizer Lisa Pollard Carlson, the mother of two teenage athletes, has seen the pressures young women face balancing school, sports and life.

“These girls juggle so much,” said Pollard Carlson, ��Ƶ��APP associate vice chancellor for philanthrophy and strategic partnerships. “Our goal was to create a space where they feel celebrated, supported and surrounded by people who believe in them. Sunday’s event achieved that and more — the energy and connection were palpable.

“Creating safe spaces where young women can speak openly with others who have faced similar challenges doesn’t just change lives; it can make a lasting difference.”

Keynote speaker Slaton urged the young athletes to create change by walking through doors of opportunity when they appear — or pushing doors open when necessary. As that journey evolves, Slaton said, remember the girls rising behind them.

“The elevator to the top is broken,” she said. “The only way to go is to take the stairs, one step at a time. And when you reach a floor, throw a hand back down for the girls coming up after you, because we're all in this together.”

Empathy is the Central Theme of Todo Cambia Film Festival

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 01:01:43 +0000

By Jody Murray, ��Ƶ��APP

February 25, 2026

An image from UC graduate student Miriam Ohan's multimedia story about Assyrian women in the Central Valley.

em·pa·thy (noun): the ability to recognize, understand and share the thoughts, emotions and perspectives of another person.

It is a means of connection, a path to understanding. Can you see where I’m coming from? Walk a mile in my shoes.

Empathy is the keyword for the 2026 Todo Cambia Human Rights Film Festival, scheduled for March 2-6. Through moving pictures, multimedia creations and the words of ��Ƶ��APP academics and special guests, the festival, as its flyer states, will remind us “that seeing one another can transform the world within and around us.”

“In a world where media and cinema are dominated by crisis, we can easily lose sight of one another, of our shared humanity, of art and culture, of our potentialities and vulnerabilities,” said festival organizer and filmmaker Yehuda Sharim, a ��Ƶ��APP professor of media and performance studies. “Todo Cambia invites us to look into that mirror of self, our personal and collective crossroads, where cinema and art offer an antidote that invites us to reflect, heal and act.”

Here is Todo Cambia’s full schedule; attendees are encouraged to register in advance. There is no cost to attend.

The festival’s first two days include three Merced premieres:

Monday, March 2

Filmmaker and ��Ƶ��APP global arts studies lecturer Shammi Samano will present her short film, “Doorways,” which portrays the Pakistani immigrant experience in Lisbon, Portugal. In addition, artist and ��Ƶ��APP graduate student Mariam Ohan will present a multimedia work that documents challenges faced by Assyrian women who migrated to Turlock.

Tuesday, March 3

Writer and activist George Lipsitz, a UC Santa Barbara sociology professor emeritus, will discuss issues raised in his upcoming book “Ethnic Studies at the Crossroads” with ��Ƶ��APP critical race and ethnic studies professors Nicosia Shakes and Christina Baker.

Wednesday, March 4

Two films will be screened. With footage filmed by incarcerated men, “The Alabama Solution” documents evidence of violence, corruption and humanitarian crises in Alabama’s prison system. “All That’s Left of You” tells the story of a young woman who returns to the Middle East after her father’s death and faces grief, identity issues and cross-cultural family ties.

Thursday, March 5

Two films by Hungarian director Béla Tarr, “Werckmeister Harmonies” and “The Turin Horse,” will be shown. Tarr, who died in January at age 90, had a signature style that included black-and-white cinematography, dark themes and exceptionally long, choreographed single shots.

An image from the documentary "Coronas Negras."

Friday, March 6

The day will revolve around the experiences of Black people in Latin cultures. The first presentation, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Classroom and Office Building 2, Room 290, will demonstrate a publicly searchable online database called TrayectoriasAfro.org. Users can learn about the lives, movements and relationships of African-descended people, both enslaved and free, in what historians call New Spain — a colony that encompassed today’s Mexico, Central America and the southwest United States. New Spain existed for 300 years, from the 16^th to the 19^th centuries.

The conversation about African and Black populations in Latin America will continue at 6 p.m. at The Mainzer, 655 W. Main St., Merced. A short documentary, “Coronas Negras,” will be shown. Directed by André Lô Sánchez, it explores the lives of four people from Senegalese families in Mexico. Their “Black Crown” hairstyles affect their experiences in Mexican society. After the screening, Sánchez and Diana Pinacho-Lopez, a filmmaker and activist, will converse with attendees.

Hosts and speakers for the all-day event will be ��Ƶ��APP Latin American history Professor Sabrina Smith, UC Irvine history Professor Alex Borucki, UC Riverside ,anthropology Professor Anthony Jerry and UC Santa Barbara art history Professor Brisa Smith Flores. Register to attend the March 6 events.

Co-sponsors of Todo Cambia include ��Ƶ��APP’s School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, the UC Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives project “Routes of Enslavement in the Americas,” and Alianza MX, which attracts talent and funding for research teams from the UC and Mexico across disciplines ranging from STEM to the arts.

How Writing Rewires Your Brain to Face Everyday Challenges

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:02:54 +0000

By Jody Murray, ��Ƶ��APP

February 11, 2026

Professor Emily Johnston redefines writing as a practice of thinking on the page that continuously shapes and reshapes who we are.

Written words can do more than communicate. They can also unlock the writer’s ability to process distress, identify hurtful feelings and take control of personal conflict.

Emily Johnston, a writing studies professor at ��Ƶ��APP, has researched how the act of writing rewires the brain to build resilience — the ability to bounce back and remain strong when facing difficult challenges. She shared her findings about writing’s superpower in a recent online essay and is preparing a book on the subject.

The writing doesn’t have to be as formal as a journal or diary, Johnston said. “Maybe the feelings are too fresh and you don’t have the words yet. So write a to-do list. Write about the cup of coffee on your desk. You’re still exercising that writing muscle. ‘What are the words I’m looking for?’”

We asked Johnston some questions about writing, resilience and her own academic journey:

You describe writing as a way to build a healthy distance from a difficult experience. How does seeing our problems on paper or a screen help us handle them better?

Writing is a tool we use to communicate, but also to process. It helps us sort out and even change our thinking.

Writing creates an interruption between something that’s happening and our thoughts about it. This interruption can regulate our nervous system and clarify how we want to respond. I think of writing as a disaster preventionist: It ever-so-subtly closes the emotional floodgates and keeps us from reacting.

To write, our brain has to switch gears. Our motor systems and language network fire up. How do my hands need to move? Which words will capture what I want to say?

Let’s say I’m in the middle of a disagreement with my partner or just remembering a heated exchange we had last week. I could keep arguing or ruminating. Either is likely to lead me to say things I’ll regret or tumble into an anxiety spiral.

If, instead, I pick up my journal, open my phone’s Notes app, or create a Google doc and start putting my experience into written words, I’m giving my brain something new, yet adjacent, to focus on. I’m directing my attention toward witnessing the experience. I’m not running away from the problem. I’m creating a record of it that I can return to and perhaps share with my partner after we’ve cooled off. Writing is a way to soothe the activation I’m experiencing (heart beating faster, palms sweating, brow furrowed, etc.), allowing me to think through how I want to move through it.

You say that labeling an emotion, even with an emoji or a colorful phrase, can calm the brain. Why is this so effective at reducing a fight-or-flight response?

From a brain perspective, with a difficult experience such as arguing with a loved one or crashing a bicycle, pain isn’t the only damaging agent. It’s also our concepts of what that experience means.

But when we label emotions, like pain, with a grimacing emoji or a colorful phrase, we give them physical form. Our brains can shift from threat-detection mode to making meaning.

For instance, in selecting a grimacing emoji to label our feelings, we not only proclaim something like “I feel frustrated,” we shape a playful relationship with that frustration. Threat is dialed down.

Let’s say that we include a four-letter word in a text message to a friend because we’re flummoxed by a chemistry lecture. Or maybe we press hard with a pen to scrawl the word next to our lecture notes. In either case, we’re refusing to be swallowed whole by the confusion we feel. Threat is still present, but we have reclaimed a sense of agency.

Some see resilience as an ingrained trait — you have it or you don’t. Explain how you see it as something to be developed, with writing as a learning tool.

Yes, I see resilience as something we practice every time we write. Whether it’s a postcard, a dissertation or a tenure file, we take risks and enact change.

In writing a grocery list, I might forget to include something. But I still transform my family from a hungry household into satiated humans. In writing a dissertation, I went from “graduate student” to “doctor.”

I talk to my students about the material effects of their writing — from social media posts to essays they write when applying for internships, grad school or jobs. What you write might miss the mark, I explain, but you’re putting yourself out there. You’re communicating, “this matters to me enough that I’ll risk rejection to be heard.”

When we write, we exercise agency and open the door to change. We cultivate our resilience.

Sometimes you ask students to set aside their laptops and write on paper. Why?

Writing by hand activates a different cognitive process than typing does. We engage our motor systems more intensely, modulating the pressure of our hand on our pen and the pressure of the pen on the paper. Our visual systems have to work harder to ensure what we’re writing aligns with our mental models of the letters we’re producing.

This heightened brain activation means we’re more apt to remember what we’ve written down and to make connections between ideas. (See this NPR article.)

I ask my students to write by hand when they take notes. Because most people can’t handwrite as quickly as they can type, students have to make choices about what to write in full, what to abbreviate, and what to let go of. That’s processing in real time. That’s critical thinking.

In a world where traditional writing is a fading art, you describe it as a builder of well-being. How can we broaden our definition of writing to take advantage of its benefits?

Actually, writing isn’t disappearing so much as it is changing forms. We write all the time — social media, email, chatting with a chatbot, texting. Global literacy rates have skyrocketed.

We also need to embrace a broader understanding of what writing does. Yes, it communicates. But it also helps us regulate, think and create meaning. Writing a to-do list, for example, can turn down the noise from the demands on our time and help us prioritize. It sends a “slow down” signal to our brain.

More formal forms of writing, such as keeping a journal or composing a memo or dossier, work similarly by making concrete the things we value and signaling to our brain that we’re taking action on those values.

Try this broadened definition of writing on for size: an everyday practice of thinking on the page that continuously shapes and reshapes who we are.

You have said that students in STEM fields, who may not see themselves as writers, can find value in this process. How?

Writing is at the core of every discipline. It’s how knowledge circulates.

Without writing, there would be no STEM disciplines. Lab reports and lecture notes are forms of writing as much as literary analysis essays and research proposals are. Every field produces journal articles and books.

In the professional worlds students will enter, writing is everywhere. Marketing campaigns for new products, patient charts, internship applications — all involve writing. Even with the rise of artificial intelligence, it’s important to remember that large language models are trained on literature and that humans type chatbot prompts.

I talk to STEM students about forms of writing in their work. We discuss thought leaders and innovators they admire in their fields. More often than not, those people share their knowledge through writing.

Writing is part of deciding how they want to participate in their fields. They write things that people in their disciplines will read. They write to get their writing out there, to stakeholders beyond our course.

You initially didn't see yourself graduating from college, let alone becoming a professor. What was the turning point?

I struggled in college with addiction and surviving domestic and sexual violence. I stopped going to classes, my grades dropped, and I was put on academic probation. I eventually left school altogether.

When I found my way back and the dean told me this was my last shot, I enrolled in a Native American women’s poetry course. There, I encountered the work of Menominee poet Chrystos. They write in raw, unflinching terms about the violence and addiction they experienced as a lesbian who is Two-Spirit (a term used by Indigenous people that encompasses sexual, gender and spiritual identities). The very existence of their writing was evidence that Chrystos wasn’t consumed by trauma. They were doing what writing does for people: bearing witness, refusing silence, transforming pain, regulating.

It occurred to me that I could support other survivors — not by becoming a therapist or psychologist but by putting my story on paper. I made it possible for someone else to see me and perhaps see themselves.

The professor of that class encouraged me to apply for the University of California, Washington, D.C., program, where I interned for the Feminist Majority Foundation and researched law enforcement responses to domestic violence. My project won the Outstanding Research Award. I graduated. A couple of years later, I went to graduate school, where I also started teaching first-year writing. The rest, as they say, is history.

University of California, Merced - Jody Murray

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Monday, March 2

Tuesday, March 3

Wednesday, March 4

Thursday, March 5

Friday, March 6

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