In my previous blog, I talked about the book we are reading and how it made me reflect a lot on society's assumptions on older people and how it made me think mostly about how I do not know much about my grandparents and their lives as seniors. The Oral Project we did was a great experience and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to sit and talk with my grandma and get to know her more. I enjoyed looking through albums with her and looking at pictures of my aunt, uncle, and dad from when they were very young. I feel like before I started taking this class, I always saw seniors as people who do not have interesting lives anymore, or just people that have boring lives. I feel like before I did this project I didn’t think there was anything my grandma and I could mutually relate too. Completing this project made me realize that my grandma and I actually have a lot in common. When she talked about her years as a young teen and adult, even though we both lived those ages in completely different times there were many similarities between how we viewed ourselves at that age and issues we faced as latina women. I felt that I could relate to my grandma, and hearing her struggles made me empathize with her on another level. I am a first generation college student, and this also came up in our conversation. She explained how incredibly proud she was of me and I thanked her because her struggles and sacrifices have allowed me to pursue an education; something she was never able to do. The event we coordinated at the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center was an amazing experience, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have participated in the event. After doing the project with my grandma, I felt that I gained communication skills that allowed me to connect with seniors and overcome that intergenerational gap that prevents us young adults from approaching the seniors in our communities. I met many seniors during the event but spoke to a few for a long period of time, and got to know them on a more personal level. Watching the smiles that taking pictures brought to their faces was priceless and being able to interact with them and joke with them was a very rewarding experience. I later realized that I had experienced and had those conversations with seniors that John Leland wrote about in his book. I could now relate to how he described certain conversations with his interviewees. He explains how some of his interviewees were very happy and enthusiastic, and others complained about their life. I also interacted with seniors that were always smiling and others that were not as happy and complained about politics and society. In the past seven weeks of winter quarter I have learned a lot and have gained valuable experience and knowledge. I am very excited to continue to learn from my peers, Professor Lewis, and seniors in our communities.
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Jimena Carolina SalazarJimena Salazar is a Public Health major with a concentration in Community Health Sciences. She is from Archives
March 2022
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