I was fashionably late to our first in-person meeting this week for two reasons. Waking up early is a huge challenge for me and I absolutely despise paying for parking. After trying and failing to find free parking in the area I parked next to a meter down the street at exactly 9:32 am. The following was my thought process. Oops! It’s blinking red does that mean I’ll get a parking citation or something? Hmm, I’ll just take my chances I can’t figure out how to pay at the meter anyways. After walking halfway to the senior center I catch a glimpse at the opposite side of another meter. Wait, how did I not notice you can pay by credit card on the backside?! On second thought I’ll go back and pay. 9:40 am, I finally make it down to the senior center, get to the meeting room, nervously wave back to Dr. Lewis, and take my seat. Our speaker’s talk regarding the senior center and the types of people who live there was very informative. The seniors who are lucky enough to be taken off the waitlist only have to pay a certain percentage of their income to stay. This is a great help to the seniors, many of which would likely be homeless without this program. During the tour I got a better look at the layout of the center. Overall, it was a very open, lively, and accommodating place. I was especially impressed with how they had a floor dedicated to both dental and psychiatric care. I heard our guide mention it was the only one of its kind in the country, wow! After the tour we all went to go help make to go meals. First, we had to put on our food prep uniforms. Literally, everyone got their gloves and aprons on before me. As a man, I had never worn an apron before in my life and the simple task of putting it on quickly became a challenge. Thanks to Tara I figured out it was easier to tie the straps in the front to secure my apron. I ended up handing out Valentine’s Day letters to a couple of seniors. I sat down with one lady, chatted a bit, and read her letter to her. She told me about one time in kindergarten when a boy got her a bubble gum ring for Valentine’s Day. I said aw, he had a crush. To which she replied, they all had crushes. I died laughing. I’m also happy that I was able to meet and make connections with a few of my peers. Everyone was so nice! It makes the whole experience feel a lot more personal.
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Anthony RomeroAnthony Romero is a Public Health major with a concentration in Epidemiology with a minor in Archives
March 2022
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