This week, we had the honor and privilege to visit and interact with the patrons of The Center in Hillcrest, a vibrant LGBTQ+ resource epicenter that we had previously visited for our Hillcrest NAP. As always, the staff and patrons were extremely welcoming and considerate. Right off the bat, I had a good chance to speak with the two individuals already at my table. One had a long and varied career in the Navy, with psychiatry, and then finally as a hairdresser (which was evident given their amazingly coiffed hair). The other had worked as a registered nurse for a majority of their lives and had recently taken a position at Macy’s for a slower pace. Being interested in nursing as a career, it was extremely valuable to me to talk to someone with their amount of experience in the field, and their outlook on retired life nowadays (not squandering their time, always seeing friends or doing things they want to do). After lunch was served, another individual joined my table, one that offered their views on the intergenerational divide. To be completely honest, I was taken aback at first; they were very direct and set on a pro-capitalistic/bootstraps-ideology stance while criticizing younger, left-leaning generations. It was definitely a hard conversation (especially when I was trying to half-gracefully eat beef and broccoli at the same time) and I had trouble bringing the conversation back to the entire table due to the rapidly-fire pseudo-interrogation from the third individual. In the end, it was a valuable conversation as it was a reminder that there is a spectrum of thought and ideology outside of my own sphere, and even in my own LGBTQ+ community. I think the only regret I had was not talking more to the first two individuals, but I do hope that I can get more readily involved in The Center and meet them again!
Today we made a return to SSB 102 to debrief our visit to the West Center, finish the second half of Happiness is A Choice You Make by Leland, and continue to work on our Healthy Aging Projects. I really enjoyed our discussion about the individuals we had the privilege to interact with. I think fondly back on my conversations with all of the individuals there, but hearing my peers talk about theirs made me a little sad that I didn’t have enough time to talk to everyone who came by. Regardless, it made me happy that we had such a good turnout and a host of positive experiences. On the side of Grace and I’s Healthy Aging Project, I am just so excited! It’s starting to come together - we have our cover and other preliminary materials drafted, and the fact that this will actually become a work one day fills me with such a warm and fuzzy feeling (an emotion that I have no specifically named but one that has been experienced often throughout this course. So far, we have over half a dozen responses, and we hope to gather more in these upcoming weeks to really flesh out a holistic and diverse set of extraordinary people. Professor Bussell submitted an amazing recipe from her own mother, and graciously baked some for all of us to enjoy - another heartwarming addition to the day. Although I realize our days within the LCS Program are coming to a bittersweet close, I am so excited for all of our HAPs, our presentations at the Healthy Aging Symposium, and our days after where we take and utilize our newly-found knowledge and experiences to enact change beyond the classroom.
Today our visit brought us to the ever delightful West Center. By now I am sure if one has read my previous posts, my adoration and appreciation for this jack-of-all-trades social/health/wellness epicenter has been made well known. This time, we were graciously given the education space to commune with our local elders to converse and enjoy refreshments. I had the honor and privilege to speak with a multitude of wonderful individuals, each with their own unique memory treasure trove despite the common denominators of kind smiles and warm hugs. As always, Grace and I were on the hunt for willing contributors to our ongoing cookbook HAP, and the individuals I talked to were both agreeable and enthusiastic - all but one consented to participation, making two small to-be cookbook makers very happy. Miss Nellie recalled her mother’s soup and dumplings, Cindy reminisced about her grandmother’s sweet and sour meatballs, Carmen missed her mom’s seafood stew, and Korra loved (and still loves) chicken adobo to this day. Each of these women related their favorite dish to a fond memory (family was an overarching theme), which has reminded me about the integral role that food plays in our interpersonal and cultural relationships. Food and the giving of food is akin to the gift of life; without sustenance we wither away. Food allows the gathering of a community, the pause of work and worries, and the space to socialize and share. If anything, today made me miss eating with my family at our dining room table. Food really is a core foundation of family, and it makes me that much more excited for this HAP. I really hope that we will have a substantial amount of entries before it’s too late to produce them, and I can’t wait to give back a finished copy to the gracious individuals who contributed.
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Andrew NguyenWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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