Resilience, Community, and Finding Your Way with Rudy Hernandez

In this episode of Beach Peeps, CSULB Vice President of Student Affairs Beth Lesen sits down with Rudy Hernandez, a social work student whose journey at The Beach is a powerful story of resilience, growth, and the importance of community.Rudy shares what it was like arriving at CSULB at just 17, navigating college as a former foster youth without a strong support system, and facing early challenges that made the transition anything but easy. From struggling academically and personally in their first year to nearly losing momentum, Rudy reflects on what it means to fail and, more importantly, how to come back from it.Drawing from earlier experiences with failure, Rudy developed the resilience needed to try again, adjust, and move forward with intention. Through connecting with the Guardian Scholars program and building a sense of community on campus, they found the support that made success possible.Now thriving in the social work program and preparing for fieldwork, Rudy is focused on giving back, working toward a future supporting transitional-aged youth navigating systems similar to the ones they experienced.Their message to students is simple but powerful: start with one question, find your people, and don’t try to do it alone.Rudy’s story is a reminder that setbacks don’t define you; what you do next does.