The Gift of Resilience Every week, Express Yourself!™ will bring you a stimulating program based on a chapter from our award winning book Be the Star You Are!® for Teens. (http://www.starstyleradio.com/#! Resilience is the key to a healthy life. Hosts Asya Gonzalez and Zahra Hasanian talk with Health App reporter, Alex Pawlakos who provides studies and tips on how to be more resilient. From a health standpoint, the better you handle the pressures and stresses of life, the better off you will be physically, mentally, and emotionally. To be resilient means to bounce back quickly. Our hosts interview Mary O’Connor, an actor who lost her ability to walk after a devastating injury in 2014. With her optimistic and determined struggle to regain her ability to walk, she is on a mission to encourage the entertainment industry to cast disabled actors in projects. Mary recently studied with James Franco and was part of an independent film she and her classmates created with Mr. Franco. Asya and Zahra read a humorous story from Cynthia Brian’s book, Be the Star You Are!® for TEENS that illustrates the importance of recovering from mishaps and turning negatives into positives to move forward. Bio: Mary O'Connor After graduating from high school, Mary O’Connor moved from Massachusetts to Santa Barbara, California. She answered an ad for an open movie audition and snagged her first acting job in the feature film “The Bet.”. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career in films. In 2014, she suffered a rare spinal cord stroke while surfing resulting in being paralyzed from the waist down. She has not let this derail her from her dream of being a working actress and continues to make incredible progress in her recovery. She talks about her story to inspire others and to bring awareness to the disappointing lack of representation of disabled individuals in the film and television industries. Mary now walks with a cane and is studying acting with James Franco at his Studio 4 School in Los Angeles. Listen at Voice America Kids: http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/92015/the-gift-of-resilience Listen, View Photos, Descriptions, & More at Express Yourself!™ Teen Radio: http://www.expressyourselfteenradio.com Press Pass: http://vapresspass.com/2016/05/03/the-gift-of-resilience-by-cynthia-brian/ Make a DONATION through PAYPAL GIVING FUND and PAYPAL with 100% going to BTSYA with NO FEES: ! https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/search-cause?charityId=1504&s=3 Read our BTSYA April Newsletter: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/672296/698db7b846/288055965/ac7221bc2f/ Have you ever bought a TV cathode screen or computer screen? If yes, please take 3 minutes to help BTSYA. Easy help. http://ow.ly/SFIHz Listen to all broadcasts at ITUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/express-yourself!/id481894121?mt=2 Express Yourself! Teen Radio is produced by Cynthia Brian of Starstyle Productions, llc as an outreach program of Be the Star You Are! charity. To make a tax-deductible donation to keep this positive youth programming broadcasting weekly to international audiences, visit http://www.bethestaryouare.org/donate.htm. Dare to care! For all the latest news on what teens are talking about on Express Yourself! Teen Radio embed this code into your blogs and web sites <Iframe src="http://www.voiceamerica.com/jwplayer/HostPlayer.html?showid=2014" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" width="420" height="380"></Iframe> Thanks for supporting teens! Be the Star You Are! charity. It's the Season of Giving Make a donation today. http://www.bethestaryouare.org/donate.htm. Buy books and shirts at http://starstyleradio.net/Store.html . If you are buying gifts on line, check out http://smile.amazon.com/gp/charity/homepage.html?orig=%2Fgp%2Fholidaytoylist%3Fie%3DUTF8%26pldnSite%3D1&ein=94-3333882&ref_=pe_732550_158412520 Amazon donates a % back to BTSYA with every purchase.Thanks for helping us help others. Starstyle, Be the Star You Are, and Miracle Moments are registered trademarks of Cynthia Brian