I would like to introduce our guest speaker today, Ms. Ariel Tweto. Probably worst thing that I meet everybody on the mountains, but this is really true. If you remember, I met our first guest speaker, mountain biking. Same thing happened with Ariel, but I don't think it was on the same day. You are here for a treat because she's simply amazing. She's an activist. She has many, many roles, but I would like to start with activist because her life purpose is to promote nature therapy. In order for her to have that nature to promote nature therapy, we have to conserve our planet. She's also producer. How many of you guys have seen that reality TV show, Into Alaska? Flying Wild Alaska. Flying Wild Alaska. She was the producer and she was also in that show. She produced it when she was 19. I didn't know that, I just learned that today. I highly recommend you watch it. I watched a couple of episodes, and as much as I have the fear of flying, she's a pilot, so I watched that. I said, oh, I want to learn how to fly. Let's welcome Ariel, and she's going to tell us about her experience and her life. Hello. How are you guys doing? [inaudible] Not going to lie, this is a little scary, talking to college kids, so bear with me if I seem nervous, but thank you for the introduction. I love your teacher. She's so great and we just bonded right when we met. But before I say anything, I want to tell you a funny story because I do the whole reuse, recycle like this. I have three shirts and I was running in Laguna the other day. It was so funny, just jogging along and I run the same path every day, and this old homeless guy, he went up to me and he's like, "You must really like that shirt." I thought it was funny. You could tell, homeless people are telling me I should probably change more often, it means something. I think in order for you guys to know what I'm doing, I'll tell you a little about my life and how I grew up. I grew up in a little village in Alaska. The only way in and out is by airplane. Has anyone been to Alaska? Yeah. Did you like it? It's the best. I love it there. We were in a big town. We had about 600 people and it was right on the Bering Sea, and so if you wanted to get out and leave your village, you better get your pilot's license. So I started flying when I was 11 or 12. But legally, when I was 20. I lived in the village until I was 15, and when I was 15, we didn't have enough kids to play sports so I grew up wrestling, playing basketball, and cross country. Wrestling and basketball were my big things. I used to think I was going to be the first girl in the NBA, and then once I realized I wasn't growing much anymore, I was like, oh, change goals. I begged my parents to let me move to Anchorage, which was our big city. I don't know what they were thinking, but I was 15 and they got me this tiny little apartment right by a school in Anchorage. I lived by myself and would play basketball and wrestled. I used to wrestle kids that trained against reindeer. They used to dehorn reindeer, and yeah, it was pretty nice, but my secret was these guys had these huge upper bodies from dehorning reindeer and the tiniest little legs. I would just tap them between the eyes and just take them down. It was just fun. When I went to the city, I left all my friends in the village. I left my mom and dad and my sisters. But then it was my goal and my dream to just to make something in myself and do something different. No one ever leaves a village. I was like, okay, work really hard, and then I got a scholarship to Emerson College in Boston, then played basketball, ran the marathons there, I just loved it. But then one summer after my freshman year, I went to San Diego and then took the train up to Hollywood because I was like, oh, I should check this Hollywood thing out, but fell asleep on the train. I ended up in Orange County right next to Chapman University, and so I'm like just that little Eskimo girl just walking around and people are in swimsuits. It's warm. I called my basketball coach. I was like, I need to transfer tomorrow. She was great. She helped me transfer, and so then I went to Chapman for awhile. I remember my big thing though. In my first year there, I got 47 parking tickets because I didn't know that you couldn't park anywhere, so I've parked on lawns. I didn't know that, like the little notice. I'm like village girl, so I would just throw it away. Then finally, I got, long story, doesn't even matter, but anyway, messed up. Then the second one is I was like, what's the quickest way from Chapman to the beach. I plugged it on my phone. It was a 55 so I just started running along the highway. I got pulled over on that one. Then one time, I tried to chop down a tree because I wanted to surprise my roommates with a Christmas tree. Don't cut down your neighbor's trees. That doesn't go with the whole conserving the planet, but that's the only way I got to where I'm from is by saying yes to all these opportunities and by being scared. I was terrified so many times when I left my village, when I called my basketball coach to transfer and everything. The next one I did was I was in Venice week playing basketball and this producer from Wipeout, has anyone seen Wipeout? He came up to me, he was like, "You're a one crazy, weird person, you should audition for this show, " and I'm like, "Yeah, sure, I'll do it. I ended up getting on that show and that is where my life changed. I did really well on it, and then I'm on that show. I was 19, I met a guy and we were like, we should make our own TV show. This was after auditioning a couple of times for sitcoms and for other things and I was, "I'm so bad at acting, the only thing I could play is myself." So then I was like, "Okay, if I could only play myself, I should create my own show." That's when I came up with Flying Wild Alaska and it was so fun. I got to move back to our village, I took a leave of absence from college, I got to get my pilot's license on cameras, so Discovery Channel paid for it, and then I got to hang out with my family who I love. My mom carries around a bullwhip, she's a nutcase, she's so fun and hilarious and my dad's awesome and then my sister is our amazing. I did all that and then, I just ramble. Are you guys following me? Am I putting you guys to sleep? Okay [LAUGHS]. Through that though, this whole journey, while I was doing it, I was invited to Regina, Canada. Slogan of Regina, the city that rhymes with fun. It's so funny. [LAUGHS] Well, that's what it is. I was invited there to do this Bullying Conference and while I was talking to the kids, these little kids because I got bullied a lot moving from the village to the city. In Anchorage, if you see a native, which I am, people think you're homeless or that you're just whatever side gets spit out all the time. Just a bad experience, but I just learnt to be resilient. I was talking to these kids and I was talking about how all of us, everyone here, we all live in our own little bubbles. We're scared to talk to people that look different from us, that believe in different religions, we're scared to leave our village, we're scared to try new foods, and I think we'd all be so much happier if we popped each other's bubbles. A little light bulb went off in my head and I was like, "Oh my God, I need to start a non-profit called popping bubbles." So backup even further. In my village, I had 12 kids in my class and seven died by suicide, and these were like my best friends. When my best friend did it in 2014, that's when I was starting to do the popping bubble thing, and so for me, in order to prevent suicide, you have to show people that life is worth living. Life sometimes really sucks and is really hard, but you have to be resilient and you have to learn different coping skills instead of sitting in your room and moping and just thinking that your life sucks, realize other people are going through the same problems and even worse. Everyone in here, we are so flipping lucky. There's people like in other countries that are still peeing in honey buckets and stuff. People in my village, we still pee in honey buckets. We don't have running water, we're so lucky. But in order to prevent suicide, you have to realize that life is a roller coaster. It's up and down and on those down moments realize, it will get better, but you have to want it to, you have to surround yourself with good friends, you have to get outside, and it doesn't mean just going on runs and stuff, you could literally sit on a park bench and be outside, it helps you feel better. A little thing that I talk about when I'm talking to kids is, in order to be happy, you need three things: You need something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Something to do could be a job, but it could be hobbies, it could be just reading. You need something to do to pass time. Otherwise, that's when you get in trouble. It is when you're bored, when you start pitying yourself, that's when you start thinking these like sad thoughts, when you get depressed, when you get anxious, you need something to do. You need something to love. It could be a person. For me, its nature. It could be trees, it could be your dog, it could be a rock, but you need something to love and then you need something to hope for. You guys have to have dreams. You guys should have huge dreams like, my dream is to be Eskimo Oprah. I'm going to, and I'm just every day setting these little goals for myself and today, to be completely honest it's terrifying talking to you guys, but then this is how I'm going to get better and this is how I'm going to improve. If you're not getting scared every day, you're not trying hard enough, you're not putting yourself in these scenarios where you're going to grow. The only way you're going to grow is by screwing up and by facing your fears. Do that every day. I mess up all the time and you guys too, your teacher screws up all the time, we're humans, we are going to mess up, so realize, like, "Crap, I made a mistake, " look at it, and be like, "How could I get better?" You're probably going to do it again and then be like, "Okay, probably shouldn't do that the third time," but it's just okay to mess up. It's also okay to change your goals. Like I told you guys first thing I wanted to be in the NBA, realized that wasn't going to happen. Then I wanted to be a vet, and I was like, ''Oh, it's too sad when my dogs die." I wanted to be a locker room girl because I love hockey players and realized I was like, "Probably, I will get too blushy and red," and it's like, "I can't even talk to guys." Now I know what I want to do. I love doing voice-overs with cartoons. I love creating new stuff. My next project is in IMAX movie and I'm climbing Everest. I'm like, "I've never climbed a mountain." But I was like, "I've climbed before, I haven't when I'm talking to these people and scary situation, I better learn how to climb and I better get stronger." I just love challenging myself. This next project is Everest and then I'm doing another one about water conservation. I get to executive produce in IMAX movie, which is a big deal for me and it's terrifying, but I rear back to nature. I've been running every day since 2001, and so I haven't missed a day of running. I've ran in negative 70. Me my mom tie ropes against each other, because where I'm from, it was negative 60 the other day. It's pretty flipping cold. Sometimes it's blowing where you can't see anything. So me and my mom just put basically dog harnesses on and just run together, but it's fun. I ran on a plane to Japan on time, ran on a sailboat. It's the one consistent thing I have in my life. I know every day I'm going to wake up, brush my teeth, and then just go running. Honestly, sometimes it's so hard to wake up in the morning, but then I know I'm going to feel so much better when I'm back from my run. I've never had a day where I went running and was like, "I feel worse." I always feel better. I think it clears your mind. If you're not out there rolling in dirt, if you're not jumping in the ocean, if you're not smelling the trees and the flowers, you're not going to care about taking care of our planet. Our planet, this is our home. So if you're not smelling it and if you're not out there climbing trees, why would you even care to take care of it? You guys are at this place with nature all around you, you guys can go surfing, you guys could go puddle boating, go mountain biking. [inaudible] go mountain biking with her. She is a ripper, she's so good. You're like, "Oh, my God, how would she just do that?" It's so fun and we laugh and it's just a blast, you create so many memories when you're outdoors and in nature. You have Joshua Tree and you have Big Bear. There's just so much you guys could do, you're the only one holding yourself back if you're not taking these opportunities. We could be on our phones. I love social media, it's so fun, but then you could take a picture or you could look at it, or you could actually go to those places and experience it. It's so fun. I was all over the place on this talk. For me, the biggest thing is you guys are in control of your happiness. You guys could live these amazing lives and it starts with you. Your boyfriend, your girlfriend, they're not going to make you happy. Pick the right friends, pick friends that challenge you, and that laugh at you and make you stronger, your friends are your family that you get to pick. Pick great friends. Another big tip that I talked with my kids, I had a bunch of my little kids when I traveled to the Arctic villages, if you're having a bad day, help somebody. If you go and help your grandma or your mom or dad, or your siblings or your friends, you feel better about yourself. It's not selfish. Some days if I'm having a bad day, I try to do one random act of kindness. It's not bad to think that way. It's like, I'm going to go buy someone a cup of coffee or just smile at someone or ask how their day is doing. It makes you feel better. You guys have all heard it, like keeping gratitude list. I started doing this a couple years ago and I can't repeat myself. It's pretty amazing when you start thinking you're like, I am grateful for my toe today because it helps with my balance," or it's like, grateful for these lights. You start looking at the world in a different way, and it just makes you just appreciate everything. You can't really be grateful and angry at the same time, it's not possible. If you're having a bad day, just start thinking of the things that you're happy for. What else is some of my happiness? My parents are so funny though, because my room, I'm a happiness freak. My whole bookshelf is like, How To Be Happier, 10 Percent Happier, You Could Be Happier, and they're like, "Are you okay?'' I just love learning about how to be happier and I think everyone can. Yesterday, I sent my sisters, we'd have these quotes that we send each other all the time and it was, you become what you're thinking. My whole thing was like, if I think happy, I'm going to be happy, and my little sister replied, "Pi. I'd become Pi." My sister, my older one, was in [inaudible] she was like, "Burgers? I've become a burger." I'm like, "You guys are hopeless." I just love learning about joy and happiness and you guys too. Just remember you guys are in this position to change the world and to make the world a better place, and you have all these tools and you have people that want to help you. Just get after it and dream big, set big goals. If I could live my dream for a little, I grew up in the village and now I get to travel the world. I leave to Mexico City on Friday to promote this movie, then we go to Switzerland, and then to Puerto Rico. I'm like, "How the heck did I get here?" I'm like, "I deserve to be here because I worked hard, I treat people right, and I treat the planet right." Nature is my home, and that's where I'm happiest and that's where I just want to be. Honestly, I'm homeless. I don't have a house or anything because I just love traveling and I love camping and I love just being outside. If I just get to do that, you'd realize what matters. For me, it's like being with my family and my friends and my sisters and being outside. It's all these material stuff. You guys will learn. I'm 32 and it took me a while to realize that I don't need that all these things. I need a couple of shirts, some clean underwear, maybe a shoe, and then I'm good. Just realize what make you guys happy and then go and do it. That's another thing. Make a list of things that make you happy and then if you're bored or something, look at your list and go and do it, and then do it often. I think I will open it up to questions. Otherwise, I need some coffee. Do you guys have questions about anything? Oh man, I hope you guys do. It could be about growing up in the village. It could be about being a pilot. What are your top three nature therapy methods? Running is one. Running is one for sure. This year I learned how to kiteboard. The happiest moment of my life was learning how to do it. I was in Hood River, Oregon. I was horrible, but then throughout the day, I got good. Then there's nothing like being in the air and then just landing and then getting in the air again. It was so fun. Riding is my main thing. Kiteboarding was a plus. Man, I have too many. Mountain biking. Mountain biking is one of my favorite things. This past year I broke my rib, my collarbone, my wrist, but I just loved it. It sucks trying to run in with a broken rib and you're just like, "What I'm I doing? But I can do it." Man, mountain biking, we go all the time in Laguna and then we go to Big Bear a lot. There's just awesome places around here to mountain bike. Hiking. Anyone could hike. You could even hike barefoot. Hiking is fun. Honestly, sometimes too just sitting outside. Just finding a quiet little place and just sitting there. I don't know. There's something about just sitting. It's amazing what thoughts come to your head when you're not doing anything but just sitting. I think those would be my top ones. Have a buddy. Sometimes just have a nature buddy who's just like, "Hey, do you want to go for a walk? Hey, do you want to go sit at the beach?" Sometimes just running in the ocean quick even when it's cold, it just makes you invigorated again. Those are some of my little nature therapy. Yes. Ever since you've traveled outside of your initial village, I'm assuming that you've traveled a lot of places and you've enjoyed your experience, but have you ever dealt with difficulties? Do you ever feel it's hard to be able to go back? Because I know your TV show is based off that, but did you feel any struggles after being exposed to so much of the planet? Honestly, that's a really good question. It's so hard to go home. Well, one home reminds me of all my friends that I lost. Everywhere I look is like, "Oh my God, this where me and Charlie used to go biking. This is where me and Axel used to get in snowball fights." It's just every memory is a memory of my friends, so that's super hard. You see all these amazing places in the world. Nicaragua is my favorite place in the world. There's this little cove where everyone is just surfing and yoga, and it's warm and there's monkeys. You see all these places, but home is where my grandma's at. My grandma's 92 and she's still chopping her own wood. She's just this crazy little old lady. That's where my mom and dad are. You have to go home. Sometimes things are hard, but you have to suck it up. If I didn't go home, my family, they're rude. My parents gave me everything and they supported me so to not go visit them. That's a little selfish. It is hard. It's so hard to go home, and just the environment. It's negative 60. There's one road and we have one store that sells ramen and Doritos and Pepsi. Guess how much a gallon of milk is in our village. This is one guess. A guess. Ten dollars? Twenty-one dollars for a gallon of milk. It's so expensive to get. We don't have fresh fruit and vegetables. When I'm homesick, I eat canned green beans because that's what I loved growing up. I didn't see fresh fruit and stuff until I left. Now I'm spoiled because I love mangoes and stuff. It's just hard, but then going back to [inaudible] , you have to respect the people that supported you, and that's my village, and that's my sisters, and my mom, and my grandma. I always go back, but it is hard. Thanks for asking. You said you were really scared when you were moving to these new places and being in a totally new environment. What would you say is your best advice to overcome those fears and those challenges being in a totally out-of-this-world or different place? I think realizing that, generally, people are kind. If you ask someone for help, like for directions, and I was so lost trying to find this room, but I have so many people, and people are usually excited to help. In different cities and stuff, I'm always asking for directions or recommendations for restaurants or new places to check out. Just realizing that the world is actually a kinder place than what we see in the media. The stuff that we see on our Twitters and on the news is so blown out of proportion. Just realizing that the world is actually very accepting and kind, and we're all a lot more alike than we are different. Yeah, we may not speak the same language, we may not eat the same food, but in general, we're all pretty similar. We all want to share stories. We all want to feel accepted and feel like we have a purpose. We all want to laugh together. We want to feel love. That's pretty much it. Just have that in the back of your mind when you're traveling; people aren't going to just be mean to you. People want it. People want that. Don't you feel like that? I think the media is blowing this stuff out of proportion like, we all want to fight, we all want to do this. I'm like, but there's all these other stories where people are helping each other. Did that help a little bit? Okay. Yeah. Thanks for asking. Are there any places after this that you really want to go to? Where I haven't been? Yes. That's a good one too. It's so cliche, but I really want to go to Thailand. I love Thai food. I just want to go there and eat my way through Thailand and just be in clear water. My best friend has moved to New Zealand. Her and her friend started this company called Reusable. It's all about reusable bowls, if that makes sense. Have you been to New Zealand? She just loves it in her pictures, and so I really want to go see her. Then the other one would probably be Tibet. Just to see that culture and then to go and climb around there. I'm working with this doctor from Stanford that found this gene and this relationship between the Inuits and the Sherpas. That's what the next project is about, is me and the Sherpas climbing this mountain together. So I'm really excited to see that. There's just so many places I want to go, but I think those would be the top three. Are we out of time? One minute over. I was so close. Thank you guys so much, and I hope you guys learned something. This is a gift that was wrapped in recycled paper, guys. This all recycled. Thank you so much. Thank you. We're welcoming you to our ant-eater family. Ant-eater family. Ant-eater family. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you guys so much. If you guys ever want to reach out for help with popping bubbles or just have any questions about anything, all my social media stuff is at @arieltweeto, and then my email is ariel@poppingbubbles.org. If you guys ever want to learn more about it or come visit me in Alaska, my house is open-door policy; my parents' house, I don't have a house. She's inviting you to her parents. My parents love people. Are you going to fly us to the village? Maybe one day; one day when I become, I guess, somehow Oprah, and have my own jumbo jet, I'll take all you guys with re-usable fuel.
