Stories & Perspectives on Resilience Building

We’ve shared some incredible stories of resilience below that we hope will help you on your journey towards building up your resilience.

Gianna Andrews

In college, I a hit rock bottom that stripped me of my identity and taught me how find the silver linings in life.I was out mountain biking with friends when I hit a jump wrong and flew over the handle bars. I scorpioned my back and heard an audible crack, landing on my face. I hit the ground so hard I thought I’d popped a lung. Read more>>

Richard Yasmine

As a Lebanese interior architect and product designer, my resilience is deeply rooted in my upbringing and the environment I grew up in. Lebanon, with its rich history, diverse culture, and challenging socio-political landscape, has taught me the value of perseverance and adaptability. Read more>>

Keith Davies

The story of my resilience is deeply intertwined with the lives of my uncles, Sean and Shane, whose journeys have left an indelible mark on my character and outlook on life. Growing up, their stories served as both guiding lights and cautionary tales, illustrating the complexities of human existence and the power of resilience in the face of adversity. Read more>>

Amanda Whyte

My parents. Without a doubt. Everything I am now is 100% a product of my environment. When I was 15, I went through a traumatic brain injury that left me hospitalized for months. I lost my ability to walk straight for a short amount of time, my personality had changed, I had a seizure disorder as a side effect, and of all of the damage that had been done, I had short-term memory loss for quite some time.  Read more>>

Raisa Fountain

My resilience came from every bit of hardship I’ve ever navigated. It came from watching my father choke my mom when I was 4, receiving the same treatment when I got a bit older, the incessant bullying from peers in school environments, the constant expectation from adults that I would be small and feminine when I was anything but. Read more>>

Sherille Marquez

My resilience comes from a life that’s been a mix of tough challenges and moments of triumph. When I was just 8, moving to the US from the Philippines was a big adjustment. And growing up here wasn’t easy either. There were a lot of ups and downs. Read more>>

Natalie Berghoudian

Growing up, my family encountered numerous hardships. From a young age, I found myself thrust into an adult role, shouldering responsibilities beyond my years. I not only cared for my younger brother but often found myself providing support to my parents as well. Amidst these challenges, I found a strong inner drive—a glimmer of hope that kept me going, even when things seemed impossible. Read more>>

Benecia Ponder

When I think about resilience, it feels like looking through a photo album of my life, each picture capturing moments of challenge, growth, and triumph. It’s been a remarkable journey, one that has taught me resilience is not merely bouncing back but growing through every experience, no matter how tough. Read more>>

RubyShineOn!

From my Mother. She’s definitely a strong woman and figure in my life. She’s a woman of Grace and dignity and I’ve watched her go through hell and back and remain resilient through everything that she had been through. She made sure that me and my brothers were very well taken care of. She never let us see her down and she conquered everything that she had to face even with a physical hearing disability she’s my rock and role model. Read more>>

Nyra Ulin- Cruz

I’d say that it comes from not wanting to let anyone down, including myself. Having parents that immigrated to the US and worked to give me and my sisters better opportunities is a driving force for me to keep pushing forward and not give up. I want them to know that I’m doing what I can to succeed.  Read more>>

Jen Martin

Resilience is a skill I learned through my life by watching my mom lead by example and through personal experiences. I watched my mom go back to college as a single parent and become a school teacher. She worked hard to give my brother and myself a great life, but I also knew I would need to work hard to be able to attend college and make a life for myself.  Read more>>

Kari Dusek

I was born and raised on a dairy farm in Northern Wisconsin. When I was 5 my parents divorced and my mother took over the farm. My mother ran the farm with 3 young kids for another 8 years before selling out and going back to school to get her RN degree. I will always remember that on the barn door she had a sign that said “Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought of as half as good. Read more>>

Constance Nicole Frierson

My resilient nature has developed out of pure necessity. Beginning during my early years, I faced numerous challenges growing up as an only child. In my way, I took care of the adults in my life to keep myself safe. I experienced situations that were frightening with no clear explanation from the adults who were supposed to nurture and protect me. Read more>>

Peityn Otto

I felt I had to work hardest on my resilience while establishing my career. Growing up, if I didn’t like a sport or club I joined, my parents allowed me to quit. Giving up always felt easiest. It was a scapegoat for when I felt embarrassed for not being a natural talent. But I soon realized that I felt unfulfilled in so many aspects of my life.  Read more>>

Breanna Fair

I believe I get my ability to be resilience from watching my grandmother sacrifice her time to be the glue of the family, as she was my guardian while being born a military brat. My grandmother is a living testimony as she has been blessed to live through heart problems and surgeries since the age of 35 and still made a decision to assist with raising my two sisters and I. Read more>>

Ralph Campbell

My resilience is a testament to the strength and determination instilled by my mother, who served as an unwavering pillar of support and inspiration throughout my upbringing. Growing up on a small island, facing the challenges of limited resources and opportunities, my mother defied the odds and displayed remarkable grit and resilience in raising me and my three sisters. Read more>>

Traci Terrick

I think growing up in a household of divorce, and then having a single mom who had to really figure out how she was going to afford to raise two teenagers on her own helped to mold my resilience. Having you parents split while you are in high school really sucks and it quickly became my goal to get out of the house fast, go to college, get a job and don’t depend on others in anyway to get what you want. Read more>>

Marsha Stone

My resilience stems from a culmination of life experiences, particularly my journey through addiction and recovery. Overcoming adversity, facing my demons head-on, and emerging stronger on the other side instilled a deep-seated resilience within me. Read more>>

Lad Makinde

My resilience comes mostly from my parents. They came to the United States as immigrants and sacrificed for me and my siblings. As a kid, you take that stuff for granted, but as I grew older, especially now as an adult with my own children, I am so thankful for what my parents did. I have no choice but to build on their legacy. Read more>>

Roger Phillips

My resilience mostly comes from my faith, and my inability to quit. I my daily life I can’t ever quit because there are too many people that rely on me. Read more>>

Dan Trilk

My drive to create has always been an innate part of me. I have never given that I would be a musical artist a second thought. So in a sense there is an automatic resilience there. But that has looked different over the years and I have switched gears at times with the intention of bringing in income to support my family. This balance has always been a focus and and a challenge. You have to able to stick to your guns and pivot if necessary. Read more>>

Joeziel Vazquez

My resilience stems from my upbringing in North Philadelphia, where challenges were a daily reality. Growing up in the ghetto taught me the importance of perseverance and resilience. Despite facing numerous obstacles, including being separated from my mother and navigating a complex legal system, I always remained determined to overcome adversity.  Read more>>

Ellise Smith

Growing up low-income, becoming a first generation college student, and living in a body (fat) that was often ridiculed because of its size and skin color, I realized I had to prepare for a world that was not prepared for me.  Read more>>

Alycia Aro

There have been a lot of difficult events throughout my life-suicide attempts from my mother, abuse,and bullying throughout my childhood and teen years. A bad relationship into college, a traumatic homicide at my first big job in my field, the losses of my grandfather,who was one of my biggest supporters,and my dog Cheza, who was an extremely important part of my life. Read more>>

Paula Pizzi

Great question. I’m a middle child who was born 3 years after my little 2 year old brother died. I wasn’t a boy which was for my parents simultaneously a relief and a disappointment. When my younger brother was born 3 years later, the pressure for me to fill what was no doubt a bottomless hole was gone, and I was kind of left to my own devices which was really great and not so great, but it definitely built resilience.  Read more>>

Anahi Castillo-Leavitt

My mother is a sole contributor to my resilience. She came to the United States as an immigrant at 16 years old with absolutely nothing trying to escape a dangerous environment and suffered the most unbearable pain at such a young age, yet, with all of her mental load she still was the best mom I could ever ask for.  Read more>>

Brittney Abrams

My resilience is a testament to the strength that was hiding within me. Despite facing many challenges, I never gave up on myself. Instead, I made a decision to “choose myself” and walk on a journey of self-discovery and healing. It stemmed from a powerful combination of elements where I recognized the need for change.  Read more>>

Courtney Glickman

Resilience for me comes from life experience. People aren’t tough because they were necessarily born that way, it is because they have experienced things in life that have built up that quality. I have been through a tremendous amount of change, including divorce with three children in tow whom have relied on me throughout financially, emotionally and socially.  Read more>>

Catherine DeMonte, LMFT

My mother was pregnant with me before the days of ultrasounds. Or, I should say, my mother was pregnant with me and my twin sister before the days of ultrasound. She and her doctor therefore had no idea of us, that two were coming. SUPRISE! We were born prematurely and tiny. My sister happened to come out before me, and for a while it was thought she was the only one.  Read more>>