Listening to everyone present about their EPs was again, my favorite part of class. It was so valuable listening to my classmates passionately present their EPs stories because it gave us all a sense of what people of a generation or two generations before us have gone through. Whether they have immigrated from countries to the US, or went through many hardships to get to where they are today, all their stories and experiences can teach us valuable lessons we can carry throughout our lives and pass on to our next generation.
I also really loved how my classmates’ personalized their memoir projects to their EPs stories. I really liked Victoria’s cookbook memoir where she put three different recipes after each stage of their parents’ love to represent a meaningful time they had together. I know that eating a certain food, made a specific way, can trigger immense memories. I also really liked Wayne’s dreamcatchers he made for his mom. It was so cool to hear how he wanted to represent his mother’s Native American background into handmade dreamcatchers which also have significance within his family.
This Chair Rocks book group also presented today and hearing about ageism in our communities made me rethink about my own attitudes towards age and its stereotypes. We discussed examples of ageism in UCSD and it was really interesting because I rarely see older adults on campus besides older professors. UCSD has such a narrow band of age on campus and the campus is definitely not built for people with disabilities as it is so hilly. When I injured my leg last winter quarter and was bound on crutches, it was very difficult to get around this campus because it has so many stairs and dirt patches, so I can imagine it must be even more difficult for the elderly to get around this campus. We also discussed about how we are shocked at older people in class because we have a predetermined image of what an undergraduate student should look like. This discussion made me think about what other areas in La Jolla present unintentional or maybe intentional ageism, and how this community can expand to include a more age-inclusive population to enjoy all that La Jolla has to offer.
I also really loved how my classmates’ personalized their memoir projects to their EPs stories. I really liked Victoria’s cookbook memoir where she put three different recipes after each stage of their parents’ love to represent a meaningful time they had together. I know that eating a certain food, made a specific way, can trigger immense memories. I also really liked Wayne’s dreamcatchers he made for his mom. It was so cool to hear how he wanted to represent his mother’s Native American background into handmade dreamcatchers which also have significance within his family.
This Chair Rocks book group also presented today and hearing about ageism in our communities made me rethink about my own attitudes towards age and its stereotypes. We discussed examples of ageism in UCSD and it was really interesting because I rarely see older adults on campus besides older professors. UCSD has such a narrow band of age on campus and the campus is definitely not built for people with disabilities as it is so hilly. When I injured my leg last winter quarter and was bound on crutches, it was very difficult to get around this campus because it has so many stairs and dirt patches, so I can imagine it must be even more difficult for the elderly to get around this campus. We also discussed about how we are shocked at older people in class because we have a predetermined image of what an undergraduate student should look like. This discussion made me think about what other areas in La Jolla present unintentional or maybe intentional ageism, and how this community can expand to include a more age-inclusive population to enjoy all that La Jolla has to offer.