For class on Wednesday, we debriefed each of the HAP’s and had our class potluck. There was so much food! And I had another class potluck afterwards so I was so full by the end of the day. I really liked the Filipino desert that Chloe brought. I enjoyed hearing about everyone’s HAP’s while we ate and was glad that we all had great turnouts. It was a bittersweet class since it was the last one. On Thursday, I went to the Healthy Aging Symposium during lunch time. I wish I had been able to stay longer to sit in on one of the sessions. I did, however, get to talk to some attendees who stopped by our exhibit. At first, no one was there because it was lunch time, but afterwards it was crowded with people. They loved how our HAP posters came out and also the posters from the oral history HAP. Many were curious about who we were, what our posters were about, and what the debunking ageism assignment was since they were displayed at our table. Some even tried to take the print outs home! Each one really appreciated us debunking ageist myths and would say things like “Finally!” or “Thank you!”. Telling people about the LCS program really reinforced all the things that we have learned over the past two quarters. I thoroughly enjoyed and learned so much from this class as well as met amazing people along the way. I will truly miss our cohort!
On Saturday, my group had our walkathon HAP at Balboa Park. We had told our participants to meet at the senior lounge, which was at first hard to find. However, it turned out to be right in the middle of the park. I have been to Balboa quite a few times and I have never noticed the senior center before. I was really shocked! It was a bit hard for our group to find the senior lounge so I was worried that the seniors would also have a hard time finding it. To my surprise, the different walking groups piled in and were ready to go. I was excited for the turnout. At least 30 seniors showed up, which was a big difference from last year’s walking event. I was proud of my group for putting in the hard work to make our event a great size. At the beginning, I was in charge of handing out the snacks so I was able to mingle with some of the seniors. Some of them remembered us from the West Center. We gave the seniors a shirt for coming and I was excited that many of them wore the shirt. I was the one who had created the design for the flyer that was on the shirt, so I was proud that everyone was repping my design. On the walk, some seniors were fast and others were slower so I think we made a good route length to accommodate the wide spectrum. I was surprised to hear that some seniors wanted our route to be longer and the pace to be faster. Apparently, some of them walk at least 10,000 steps every day. One thing I wish we had done was have the front person use some sort of object, like an umbrella, as a marker to guide the group. Since there was a huge gap between the faster walkers and the slower ones, it was hard to tell where to go. I also wish we had played music during our walk to make it more upbeat. After our walk, we did a drawing for raffle prizes. It made me happy seeing the seniors excited for their prizes. Overall, I think we had a fantastic turn out and it was a Saturday morning well spent talking to seniors and learning about how they have made their lives more healthier by being active.
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Deanna fongWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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