This weekend my Living. Creating. Striving. HAP group had our wiliness event at the Gary and Mary West Wellness Center in Downtown San Diego. The turnout for the event was phenomenal, we had at little more than a hundred seniors who came to the event. Although, we may have run out of the one hundred goody bags we had, seniors were still coming and staying to participate in the wellness stations that we had. At the event we had a coloring, self-massage, face mask, and nail stations for the seniors to destress and pamper their selves. In addition, there was a jewelry and clothing boutique for the seniors to take some items that they need or want. I honestly love the activities that we choose to implement in our wellness event because each station gave us the opportunity to engage and conversate with the seniors. In each conversation, the seniors genuinely enjoyed the event because this was something that they were not able to do regularly. Bertha, who was an attendee expressed how this was a fun experience because she does not get the chance to go to the salon due to the cost and distance. I was full of joy from the reaction and feedback that we would receive from the seniors. Many would ask when we were going to come back and do this again, and it was heartbreaking to answer that we were not going to do this again. However, to our surprise, the professors want to continue to do this event again. In my opinion, this was the best outcome from the event, knowing that we created an event that the professor want to have again for the seniors because they thought it created an impact for the seniors, which makes me feel that we chose the right approach for the event, after we were not able to do our initial project. It happened; the event finally happened. I want to express many thanks to everyone who contributed to make this event happen: our donators, UCSD’s intergenerational club, Casa de Manana, the Gary and Mary West center, the USP program, the professors, instructional assistants, and peers, and all the seniors who came. Without the support, the event would have not been living, creating, or striving.
I always enjoy the projects that are assigned in Life Course Scholar because we are allowed to be creative with them, which is not common in college courses. “Debunking Ageist Myths” is a communication assignment to convey information that debunks ageism. For this project, I was thinking what are products that are aimed toward elders. I had several ideas that I wanted to do, such as creating labels for products that are targeted to fix problems in aging. But I remember my grandma and her friends use to play an Asian version of bingo every day. I thought this would be a fun and easy way to debunk the stereotypes about elders. On the bingo cards, I put misconceptions and myths, such as “elder shy away from new forms of technology” or “elders are not interested in intimacy or sex”. And to debunk these stereotypes, there are cards the facilitator reads to the bingo player that states facts against the myths and misconceptions, so the bingo players have to decide which stereotypes the facts debunks on the bingo card. For example, if the card said, “With personal skills and professional expertise, elders volunteer and contribute countless of hours to various community organizations within society” this would debunk the stereotype that “elders lack productivity or contribute less to society”. Similar to bingo, to win you have to fill the bingo card, but the real win is that you get to fill your mind with knowledge about the stigma that surrounds ageism.
About two more weeks until the Healthy Aging Project: Project L.C.S. happens at the Gary and Mary Senior West Center. To be honest, the project is not going how we originally envision it, but we are trying our best to successfully plan it, in a way that meets our objective: a space to destress, relax, and feel confident. Unfortunately, we did not have much luck with companies or businesses to donate their time or products to our event, but we have thought of alternative ideas with the same concept. If we are unable to contract hairstylist or massages, we plan to have a D.I.Y. event, that includes face-masks, make-up, and nail polish bar. I think this is a great alternative because we can provide and teach them easy D.I.Y. self-care products that they can do at home. In addition, our goody bags are something that we still want to have for the elders. We are going to incorporate a reusable goody bag, that they can use again and again. The goody bags are going to contain shampoo and conditioner, disposable razors, lotion, and soap bar. We were able to get toothbrush donations from a dentist friend and sock donations from Bombas! If you want to buy some socks, check Bombas out because for every sock purchased is a sock (and shirts, too) donated to a homeless shelter. Furthermore, the Casa de Manana senior home donated their clothes and accessories to the event, too, and classmates and professors who donated. Thank you. I am honestly still looking forward to the event, even though it is not how we first approached it, but I think our new approach is still important and more on a personal level where we teach and interact with the elders on the D.I.Y. products.
Each week I have been able to talk to different people and hear their different stories about their lives at twenty. At the Gary and Mary West Senior Center, I was able to have conversations with two people. The first person did not know about the LEG and was ushered in by her friend to participate in the LEG. She came to the senior center to drop off a letter, but she was glad that she chose today to drop off her letter. She explained how she has not had much interaction with younger people since her children grew up and started living their own lives. She was not much of a story teller, but she enjoys the Q and A question types. So, I asked her different questions about herself, family, and experiences. I got to learn more about her likes and dislikes. Her favorite memories revolved around her family. She may not be around her family, but she has found a family at the center. She described all her friendships at the center and her involvement in the choir. She expressed how she likes how the center have these collaborations with us and will be looking forward to futures events with us. The second person I talked to came late to the LEG, when there was about thirty minutes left, but we made the best of the time we had left. She explained how this was an event that she was really looking forward to, and that she even was missing the first lunch to be here. I can tell that she really wanted to be there and just wanted to talk, so we let her talk the whole time. She told us about her journey as an aspiring writer and her traveling stories. I was able to have two different conversation experiences, which shows that some people need these intergenerational conversations with people, and I truly happy that I am able to be in class that allows me to have these conversations and connections with people.
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ALISA HULWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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