As stress levels are rising when we are all thinking about midterms, graduation, summer plans, finding jobs, I was glad we took a little time to check in with each other at the beginning of class. I know that for me, it is easy for me to get caught up in the stress of planning my future that I forget that it is important to live in the moment. Having this discussion with my fellow classmates made me take a step back and realize that we just have to take things slow and one step at a time. This discussion sets the stage well for our first book presentation about the first half of John Leland’s book, Happiness Is a Choice You Make. In this book, the author follows six elders between the ages of 87-92 who share their life story and wisdom. It was really interesting to read that despite older people’s declining health, they still find ways to be happy because they accept the inevitable. All in all, older people worry less. This made me reflect about what it means to be happy in my life and remind myself that it is important to worry about the things that I can control in my life and to let go of the things that I cannot control. While we do need to look forward into the future in order to plan for our post-grad plans, we also have to live in the present to enjoy the little things in life. At the end of class, I met up with my walkathon HAP group and delegated tasks for the event including mapping a route, snacks for the picnic, outreach, and shirt design. Our project is rolling!
Every time I visit Casa de Manana, I always feel a bit envious towards the seniors waking up to such a fresh and beautiful view of the ocean every morning. This week, we first checked in with our HAP group and worked on solidifying our plans. My walkathon group is currently working on reaching out to current walking groups in San Diego and bringing together multiple groups of all different ages for a fun day of promoting healthy physical activity and intergenerational interactions. After we have solidified a date and location, we plan to focus our efforts on outreach to bring more people to our event. This week our class also had the pleasure of speaking with the seniors we have met before at Casa. My group and I got to converse with Dietta, a wonderful woman who has led an amazing life. I was so amazed to hear that for her 90th birthday, she went skydiving. I still cannot believe she is over 90 years old because she does not look a day over 60. When Dietta asked us about where we were all from and where we have traveled to before, it was so cool to hear my classmates’ background and experiences that have shaped us to what we are today. One of the highlights that amazed me were her stories of traveling to Antarctica when she experienced a sinking ship and had to give rite of passage to a family of penguins. The experiences that she has gained through travel, Dietta says, makes her feel very lucky and rewarded that she got to be immersed in so many different cultures. Through the pictures and stories that she told of her at the hot air balloon event in Albuquerque, to riding a camel in Egypt, her passion for travel inspires me to want to travel more.
“I believe that everyone is meant to do something in this world, and mine was nursing,” Rami answered when we asked about her dreams and aspirations at 20. Rami, a senior in her mid-70s, who had just finished an intense Zumba workout at the Bayside Community Center, sat down with my group to share her life stories and experiences when she was at her prime age of twenty. She explained that she was born and raised in the Philippines where everyone there had their eyes set on immigrating to the United States for a better life. It was her and her family’s dream to come to the US for better education, working conditions, and diverse opportunities. She eventually moved to California and was very focused on school in order to obtain the nursing degree she has always hoped to achieve. Despite long and arduous working hours as a nurse, she could not see herself in another profession. The reward of helping very sick and vulnerable patients, to taking care of them until they could walk out of the hospital door themselves gave her the greatest pleasure. She told us that she has not married, and has no children, which allowed her to live her young life stress-free. Her favorite hobby is to travel and experience the beautiful places that every country has to offer-- Australia and Japan were a couple of her favorites. The one thing that resonated most with me was that she emphasized that having a passion for whatever you do in life is what drives you and makes life meaningful. And I believe that this is so true. Reflecting upon our conversation, I really enjoy getting to spend time talking with seniors as they all hold so much wisdom and experiences that propelled them to where they are today. Though I’ve only met Rami for half an hour, I will always remember her passion that she holds for her nursing career, traveling, and maintaining friendships.
Spring break is over and we’re back for Week 1 in the classroom for our second quarter. It was nice getting to see everyone again and hearing everyone’s fun excursions during spring break! As it was only the first day back, the professors introduced the logistics of the quarter and explained the various projects that we were going to work on throughout the weeks. I was so excited to see on our syllabus that we would be going back to all our partner sites and interact with more seniors. This quarter, I hope to build more meaningful relationships with the seniors in our community as well as have fun with my fellow classmates doing so! During the majority of class time, we worked on planning and budgeting for our HAPs. My group is working on the “Walks of Life”, an intergenerational walkathon. I really believe that this project will make a positive impact on people of all ages as it can foster healthy habits and promote intergenerational connections. We are working hard to build upon past projects similar to ours and expand them to attract more attendees and organize a successful event.
|
Katrina HungWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
Categories |